


A Disturbance in the Force

by BatuuPrincess



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Canon Compliant, F/M, Family, Five Years Later, Found Family, Misunderstandings, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Post-Canon, Post-Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, Secrets, missed calls
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-20
Updated: 2021-03-07
Packaged: 2021-03-10 23:07:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 33,196
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28195185
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BatuuPrincess/pseuds/BatuuPrincess
Summary: Five years after the Battle of Exegol, Rey has found her home on Sorgan teaching the next generation of Jedi. But a blast from her past threatens the gentle peace and life she's worked so hard to achieve.
Relationships: Poe Dameron/Rey
Comments: 188
Kudos: 168





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I have been literally dying to share this story for weeks. No less than four times have I been talked off the ledge of posting it early. But I decided that the one-year anniversary of The Rise of Skywalker was the perfect time to submit my little five years later story. So here we are.
> 
> Thanks in advance for reading. I love this story a ridiculous amount and am super excited to share it.

The X-wing set down without much fanfare in the Ajan Kloss jungle, the canopy opening with a pneumatic hiss a second later. 

To Rey’s eyes, it looked like the entire Resistance was celebrating as her feet hit the jungle floor, people cheering and embracing and crying everywhere she looked. She was filthy, coated in blood, aching in ways she hadn’t even realized were possible. But none of that mattered in the moment.

They’d won. They’d actually won. 

It was just starting to sink in when people began to notice her presence. Shouts of her name, pats on the back, and more than one hug and smile greeted her as she made her way through the crowd as if in a dream, part of a real family for the first time in her life. Already her eyes were starting to overflow, the pain and terror and elation of the past fews days hitting her all at once. She looked around frantically, searching for the two people she wanted most in the galaxy.

And there, just across the clearing, she found them.

Poe noticed her first, the smallest of smiles on his face as he tapped Finn’s arm to get his attention. They locked eyes, her boys whole and (mostly) unhurt. Just as she’d left them. A sob escaped her lips. 

Before she quite knew what was happening, her feet carried her into their open arms, a three way hug so all encompassing that she lost track of limbs and tears and shoulders. Finn’s cheek laid against hers; Poe’s injured arm pressed against her side. She held on for dear life, not realizing until that moment that she’d never expected to see them again. A fresh wave of tears hit her when she remembered how close it had been to coming true, Poe squeezing her hand in recognition behind Finn’s back.

Her boys. Her family. She was home.

* * *

FIVE YEARS LATER

Rey couldn’t shake the feeling. 

It was an insidious thing, sneaking into every moment of waking and sleeping of the past week. It snaked itself around her chest, settling there and lulling her into a false sense of complacency before squeezing tighter and tighter until she could barely breathe. Something was coming. Something big. A change, a seismic shift the like of which she hadn’t known since her time in the war. A disturbance in the Force.

The war. It felt like an entire lifetime ago standing amongst the gently rolling hills outside of the temple, green stretching as far as her eye could see. Nothing more than a vague bad memory, the edges blurred with time and age and new responsibility. 

Like many here, this place had provided her with a refuge, its peace and gentle purpose working to fuse the broken pieces inside her until she felt something akin to whole once more. And yet it seemed the cracks remained, whatever this feeling was throwing the mended fractures into sharp relief. 

Day after day she’d tried to meditate it away, seeking out that calming place that she’d only truly found for the first time moments before her death. But it was no use. That strange feeling lingered.

Even years later she never got used to these– “premonitions” was too strong a word. “Feelings” was too weak. They were something in between, these little snatches of future she received, always changing, moving, morphing as time marched on. Only making sense once that future came to pass. They were no less infuriating for their familiarity.

And still, she tried to understand it, closing her eyes at the top of the grassy hill that was her favorite place to meditate. She flung her feelings out wide.

It was truly one of her favorite aspects of this planet she now called home, that almost magical quality of all things green and growing. Things that somehow worked to amplify and ground her in the living Force. 

She felt it all. The long, almost sentient grasses that danced in the summer winds from one end of the planet to the other. The tall, proud trees standing sentinel at the edge of the temple, an entire forest of protection from prying eyes and unexpected visitors. All manner of wildlife that made their homes in both. And always, always, always, that little tug in the back of her consciousness, a bright spot in the Force connected to her as if by a tether.

Sorgan. It was her home, her haven, the place she came to bury her secrets and start anew. Here, she was Rey Skywalker, teaching the Jedi of tomorrow, passing on her own hard-earned knowledge and that of all the Jedi who came before, pilgrims and padawans alike traveling the galaxy to find her. Thankfully, the newest attempt at a republic had taken some lessons of the old to heart and adopted a hands-off approach to her temple. The deal was clear: you stay out of our business, and we’ll stay out of yours. So far, it had held.

A throat cleared behind her, Rey so preoccupied with her own thoughts that she hadn’t heard them approach. “Master Skywalker.”

“Yes, Jyssa,” she said, not bothering to open her eyes or turn around. Her young assistant was used to it, the strange habits of the Jedi and all. 

“A ship has entered the system. Republic.”

Rey’s eyes opened. The deal was clear: you stay out of our business, and we’ll stay out of yours. So far, it had held. Until now.

Her heart raced in her chest, Rey fighting the rising panic to keep her words even. Calm. “Well, then we should prepare the temple for our guest’s arrival.” Rey rose to her feet, dusting dirt and grass off her thin trousers.

There would be no mistaking the meaning of those words. Jyssa had been with her a long time. Since the beginning, really. She’d know exactly what to do.

Because Rey now knew with stunning clarity what her visions had meant, who exactly was headed their way, every piece of the puzzle falling into place. 

Jyssa cleared her throat. Nervously. “Well, that’s the problem. He’s already here.”

Rey whirled around expecting to meet her young assistant’s gaze, and instead finding herself face to face with Poe Dameron for the first time in nearly five years.

Her name was barely more than a breath on his lips. “Rey.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Poe finds a little more than he bargained for on Sorgan.

“The Defense Council now acknowledges General Poe Dameron.” The large Gamorrean presiding banged some sort of gavel. “General Dameron, the floor is yours.”

Gods, he never got used to that. And somehow it also never got old.

He honestly never thought he’d be in this position. During the war, it had barely been enough to survive from day to day. And after, well after he always assumed he’d retire, settle down on some quiet little planet like his folks. 

But in the aftermath of Exegol there had still been plenty of clean up to do. A war isn’t won in a single battle. Though they’d at least done enough damage that the First Order was no longer a real threat. Taking out the trash, that’s what they called it. Dealing with the remnants so that the galaxy could move on.

They wouldn’t make the same mistakes twice.

And yet, after all the battles were done and the… celebrations were had, Poe found himself alone once more and adrift. So when the burgeoning new government offered him the top role in the Navy, one where he would be able to shape the galaxy’s future, he threw himself into it with everything he had.

Five years later, here he was.

He cued up the briefing he’d prepared on his datapad, clearing his throat. “Honorable Members of the Defense Council...”

It wasn’t a bad life. In fact, it was a pretty damn good life. There was peace in the galaxy. Beings of all species came together every day to keep it that way. He was making a difference cleaning up pirate activity and flushing out cells of First Order sympathizers in once-neglected corners of the galaxy. 

It just wasn’t the life he’d imagined for himself. 

No, that had been a quiet life, a private life, one lived on a far-flung planet somewhere with all manners of verdant splendor. Yavin 4 would have done nicely, he had family there after all, but he would have been open to suggestions. He’d work with his hands, maybe fly in a local defence fleet. And there’d be babies. So many babies. With soft, dark curls and little button noses and bright eyes that looked brown in some lights and green or grey in others. The eyes of their mother...

Back in the Council chamber, Poe paused, losing his train of thought entirely. No. That dream was long dead. Five years gone. He swallowed thickly. Cleared his throat. And went on.

“The slight uptick in pirate activity shows no evidence of being indicative of increased First Order...”

After it was all said and done and Poe had given his recommendations to the Council ( _“A heavier presence in the Outer Rim. We don’t want to make the same mistakes a third time.”_ ), he was getting ready to leave the chamber when a familiar voice stopped him.

“Excuse me, General Dameron?”

Poe looked up from gathering his things to find Rose standing in front of him in all her robed glory. He smiled. She was some big shot now, a member of the High Council if he remembered correctly. Must have been watching the Defense Council meeting from the gallery.

“Secretary Tico.” He inclined his head, keeping things professional for the prying eyes and ears. Galactic politics were no joke. “What can I do for you?”

“I have something I’d like to discuss with you. Join me in my office?”

He nodded, following her out of the chamber and down the long, winding halls of the Senate building, up a turbolift to nearly the top floor. Like he said, high up.

As soon as the door had clicked shut behind them, he pulled her into a crushing hug. “Rosie! Gods, it’s good to see you.” The Dameron men were huggers. Rose knew better than to fight it.

“I’ve missed you too, Poe,” she said from somewhere near his chest. He wasn’t a large man, but Rosie was so tiny he absolutely dwarfed her. She gave him a pat on the back. “Alright, alright, that’s enough.”

She was smiling up at him when he let go, but her face quickly turned sober. “Have a seat.”

That sounded… ominous. But Poe did as requested. “So this is serious.”

Across the desk from him, Rose sighed, the sound of a woman with the weight of the galaxy on her shoulders. 

“I’ve heard rumblings.”

Poe had been in the new capital long enough to know that was never a good sign. Doubly so when Rose needed extra prodding. “Of…”

“Of Sorgan,” she said, her lips a straight line across her face. Poe struggled to keep his own expression blank, though his heart took a dive directly into his stomach at the mere mention of the planet. But Rose wasn’t quite finished dropping her bombs yet. “And our mutual friend there.”

Though nobody knew the full story of what happened between him and Rey, they knew enough to tread lightly on the subject. Rose especially. She’d been there… after.

“What about her?” He kept his voice carefully even, the nonchalance he was going for nowhere to be found. 

Rose picked at a piece of lint on her robes. “Rumors mostly. People getting curious about who this supposed Jedi Master is, where she came from.”

After Exegol, Rey had been the great hero, the Jedi returned to free them from the terror of Palpatine and his Sith Fleet. Though only the barest few of them knew what really happened on that stormy planet, the truths Rey had learned upon facing her kin. 

Finn, Rose, Poe. That was it. They’d decided then and there that very day that no one else needed to learn the story of Rey’s blood. There would be too many questions, questions Rey shouldn’t be forced to answer. And always the worry that sometime down the road her blood would win out. She’d saved them all, and the galaxy would treat her like a thermal detonator just waiting to go off. 

Anyone who knew her knew that there was no danger of her turning. So they’d kept it secret and let Rey be the hero the galaxy needed. Even when she’d disappeared in the middle of the night, ostensibly to start her temple, the secret had remained between them. Those bonds went deep.

He swallowed, pushing down the memory of that morning and the empty bed beside him. “How much do they know?”

“Best I can tell, not much.” Her words were deliberately light. “But they want to send an envoy. See what she’s up to in the Outer Rim.” She tented her fingers, leaning forward slightly on the desk so her eyes met his. “I want that envoy to be you.”

Poe balked at the suggestion, not even trying to hide his panic. “Me? Why me? Wouldn’t you guys have someone more qualified?”

“They want it kept quiet. And you’re out there all the time doing clean up, so it was a natural choice.” There was a pause, Rose obviously working herself up to say something. “They also think that she’ll be more likely to be open with someone she knows.”

Poe barked out a bitter laugh. “She’s not going to talk to me.”

“You don’t know that.”

Poe fixed her with a long look.

“Ok, maybe she won’t,” Rose allowed, but that didn’t stop her from pressing on. “But we both know that nothing’s going on, so I want someone there _I_ can trust. Someone Rey can trust.”

He tried not to scoff at that. There was little trust left between the two of them, of that much he was certain. But still, even after all that happened and the years apart, the thought of telling her secret never even crossed his mind. There were some things that went beyond hurt feelings and broken hearts.

He knew there must have been a look of resignation on his face when Rose smiled. 

“Fine. When do I go?”

Now that she had him, Rose jumped to action. “As soon as possible. I want this thing cleared up quickly and quietly. Officially, you’ll be in the system for periodic checks of local defense fleets.” She slid a datapad over to him. “Everything is set. You’ll need to check in twice, and write a final report, but otherwise we’ll see you in a month.”

“A month?” He looked down at the datapad, finding a list of questions he needed to “find” the answers to, a ship’s manifest, some details on what they knew about the temple. “What am I going to do there for a month?”

“You don’t have to use the whole time, I suppose. You can go check other systems, keep up the ruse. Just be back here in a month to appear before the Council.”

Something about the way she said it made his skin prickle. Some small recognition that there was more at play here than she was saying.

“Which Council is this?”

There was a slight pause, Rose’s expression growing serious once more. “The Council of Security and Intelligence.”

Poe’s mouth went dry. “The CSI?”

Across from him, Rose nodded once.

There was only one reason the CSI would be investigating someone: if they thought they were a threat to the Republic.

Say what you wanted to about Rey - and Poe had quite a few opinions on that front - but there was no way she was a threat to anything but the fascism they’d defeated years ago. The fact that she was the subject of some hush-hush, under the table investigation made his blood run cold.

Any doubt he’d had left his mind as he locked eyes with Rose. “Ok. Then I guess I’d better start packing.”

“Thank you, Poe,” she said, placing one of her hands over his. It was so small in comparison he almost wanted to laugh. “I know this isn’t easy for you.”

Wasn’t that the understatement of the century? But regardless of what had or hadn’t happened between them, Poe still felt somehow bound to Rey, to protect her in some small way even when she’d long given up on him. Once upon a time, they’d been friends. Maybe more. He could at least do this for her.

“I’ll get to the bottom of this, I promise.” He chose the words carefully, acutely aware of the precarious situation they seemed to be in. The Council of Security and Intelligence. Gods, what a mess. “I won’t let you guys down.” The subtext was plain as day: _I won’t let her down_.

“I know you won’t. That’s why I asked.” Rose gifted him with a knowing smile. Without warning she got to her feet, extending a hand. “May the Force be with you, Poe.”

He shook it, recognizing a dismissal when he saw one. “And… also with you,” he said, never quite sure how to respond to the now-familiar parting words. 

Grabbing his things, he took his leave, making it all the way back to the apartment he kept in the city before the true weight of what he’d just agreed to hit him.

Without warning, his legs gave up the ghost, depositing him on the couch.

He was going to see her again. For the first time in five years. 

Even all these years later, he could remember every curve of her face, the way the light caught in her eyes, the feel of her skin on his, like it was burned into his brain. With each passing year, he’d expected the memories to fade, to finally be able to move on, and yet something continued to tether him to her. 

Maybe it was because she left him. Without so much as a word. He just woke up one morning and found her gone.

No, that wasn’t right. There had been a word, a single word scribbled on a piece of scrap flimsy and left on her pillow. _Sorry_. 

His head dropped into his hands, fingers automatically running through his hair. Only, there wasn’t much hair to run through anymore. He’d cut it days ago.

His mind drifted to the comm she’d sent a couple months later, out of the blue, Poe still too hurt to do much more than watch it through. She’d said she needed to talk to him, to explain herself, but he hadn’t been ready then to hear her. Hells, he wasn’t sure he was ready now. Not that he had a choice. 

They were digging into her past. And if he didn’t do something, they wouldn’t stop until they got what they wanted. Until her entire history was laid bare. 

And maybe it wouldn’t matter in the end. Maybe the galaxy would be more understanding this time around. But he remembered the shockwaves of Leia’s parentage reveal all too well, young as he was back then, and if there was one thing he knew, it’s that he didn’t want Rey to have to go through that same hell.

So that left him with only one choice. Time to pack.

The trip to Sorgan was easy enough, the sleek little shuttle the Republic had provided practically flying itself. Nothing for him to do but sit back and watch the stars swirl.

Poe wouldn’t pretend that he didn’t miss the thrill of flying a starfighter, that feeling of careening through the stars with only your reflexes and your wits standing between you and certain death. But those days were long gone. At least for him.

Now his life was a string of comfortable shuttles and endless meetings, disagreements in soft spoken voices and diplomatic results. Nothing as fun or dramatic as jumping into an X-wing and blowing shit up.

A soft trill from BB-8 drew him out of his thoughts.

“Not long, now,” he answered, checking the nav screen. Barely a parsec to go. Some long dormant butterfly fluttered in his stomach.

Bee’s next question came quickly. 

“I’m sure she’ll be happy to see you.” Poe on the other hand…

A flat beep.

“Yeah, I miss her, too.”

The proximity alarms rang out, giving Poe an excuse to turn from his inquisitive little droid before he said something he’d regret.

He took them out of hyperspace, Sorgan materializing in the viewport. The planet was beautiful from space, overwhelmingly green with white swirls of clouds popping up here and there across the surface. The exact kind of place he’d imagined Rey would love.

By the looks of it, the planet hadn’t changed much in the twenty-some years since he’d last been here. Same swamps and forests, same fields of gently waving grass and rolling hills. He’d only spent a month here, though it had felt longer, his entire time with the spice runners seeming more like a bad dream these days. 

Locked on to the coordinates, he brought the ship down slowly, calling ahead to avoid any surprises.

“This is General Poe Dameron of the Republic Navy, requesting landing access.” There wasn’t any kind of tower or large settlement in the area according to his scans. Poe wasn’t even sure if they were monitoring the airspace. But still he tried. It probably wouldn’t end well to show up unannounced in a temple full of Jedi. “This is General Poe Dameron of the Republic Navy, requesting access to land.”

There was a pause where Poe thought there would be no answer before a scratchy voice came through the speakers.

“Please proceed to the landing zone south of the temple.”

That he could do. “Affirmative,” he responded, watching as a low stone building came into view.

It was more humble than he’d been expecting, this temple, little more than a series of low stone buildings set around a center courtyard. And there, just on the south edge, sat a ship far more familiar to him than his own. 

He set down next to the Millennium Falcon, the five years since he’d seen her doing little to improve her condition. But that was the charm of the Falcon, wasn’t it? The knowledge that you were always mere seconds away from the whole thing falling apart.

A slow smile spread across his face. He had a lot of good memories in that hunk of junk. More than a few not so good as well. But like with most things in life (or so he’d found), the good outweighed the bad, at least in memory. 

Alone in his cockpit, he shook his head. He was getting sentimental in his old age.

By the time he managed to grab his things and lower the ramp, there was a young woman waiting for him, her posture and position reminding him instantly of Rey. So, a Jedi. 

“General Dameron,” she said, gently inclining her head. “What brings you to Sorgan?”

So they were skipping the pleasantries. Good to know. “I’m here on official business, I’m afraid,” he answered with a conspiratorial little smile, easily slipping into one of his more charming personas. “I was hoping you’d be able to direct me to Rey.”

Her face remained unmoved, perfectly smooth in the soft sunlight. “Master Skywalker is currently detained.” He could hear the scolding in those words. Right, it wasn’t just Rey anymore. “However, I’d be happy to show you to the temple where you can wait.”

Though her words were just as smooth and even as her face, there was something just below the surface. He could recognize when he was getting brushed off.

“It’s quite urgent that I speak to Master Skywalker.” The name felt foreign on his tongue.

In front of him, the young woman shifted nervously, the first chink in the armor so to speak. “I really must insist you wait in the temple.” Only this time, when she finished, her eyes darted slightly to a ridge on the far side of the grounds. A tell. Poe followed that gaze. “I’ll let Master Skywalker know you’re here.”

There, sitting atop one of the hills, was the silhouette of a woman outlined in the gold of the setting sun. Something tugged at Poe’s subconscious. He would bet good credits he knew exactly who she was.

He was done playing.

“Or, you can take me to her, and I’ll tell her myself,” he said, speaking slowly and firmly in that tone he’d learned specifically for unruly commanders and captains who thought they knew better than him. 

The girl blanched. “Of course. Follow me.”

She turned, leading him toward the hill and the woman perched there.

Guilt snaked through his belly. She was young, far younger than he’d realized at first glance. A girl, not a woman, 16 if she was a day. And here he was throwing his weight around. 

As they walked, he felt that all too familiar tug again. Stronger. Like a tickle in the back of his subconscious. 

Though he liked to joke he was about as Force sensitive as a potato, he’d picked up on things from time to time. Most likely a by-product of growing up in the shadow of a Force tree. A tug here, a push there. Sometimes the Force would guide him. Never more than when he’d been around Rey or Leia or Finn. The Force practically sang around them. 

But as he walked past a courtyard between the cluster of buildings where a group of children were playing, he felt that tug - behind, not ahead. Odd.

He put it out of his mind as they came up on Rey’s meditation spot. 

With each breath his heart beat harder against his ribs. After five years, he was about to see her again. He hadn’t even let himself think about this moment, too worried he’d lose his nerve and high-tail it back to Coruscant first chance he got. 

She looked peaceful sitting there, her hair loose and longer than he remembered. Then again, it had been a while. Out beyond, he took in the rolling hills, gently waving grasses as far as the eye could see. It was exactly the sort of place she belonged. Among the life and growth and green. 

She loved green.

They stood for a second before the girl cleared her throat. “Master Skywalker.”

“Yes, Jyssa.” Rey’s voice was even, calm. The pinnacle of a Jedi. But there was an authority laced in even those two words that Poe hadn’t been expecting. New.

“A ship has entered the system.” The girl - Jyssa, apparently - struggled to keep her own voice even. “Republic.”

For a second, there was no answer, Poe’s heart beating so loud he was sure she could hear it. 

“Well, then we should prepare the temple for our guest’s arrival.”

With a graceful motion, Rey got to her feet, pausing only to brush off a bit of grass that had stuck to whatever she wore under that long, flowing robe. She looked out over the landscape, in no particular hurry to greet her visitor.

He’d been right in insisting on coming here. Something about the way she spoke, the set of her shoulders, told him that she wouldn’t have granted him an audience all that easily.

Jyssa’s eyes darted over to him, a pale, icy blue. She cleared her throat. Again. “Well, that’s the problem. He’s already here.”

That got someone’s attention.

Rey whipped around, her expression anything but serene. Those bright hazel eyes he’d know anywhere skated over the young girl to lock directly on to him.

His heart stopped dead in his chest.

“Rey.” 

It was more a breath than an actual word, so quiet he couldn’t even be sure she’d heard him. And yet, he knew she had, her own face struggling to find some sort of middle ground.

“Poe. It’s been a long time.”

She looked good. So good. Her eyes bright and her cheeks full. In fact, all of her was a little fuller than he’d last seen her, the years and steady food bringing soft curves where there had once only been sharp angles carved from hunger. 

“Too long.” He smiled. 

It was not returned. “What are you doing here?”

But he never got the chance to answer. 

“Mama! Mama!” came a little voice from behind him.

Rey froze.

That strange feeling, the one he’d thought was just Rey, grew stronger. A phrase he’d heard muttered by Leia time and again rose to the forefront of his mind. A disturbance in the Force.

Bounding from the direction of the temple on little legs came a boy, his dark curls bouncing with every step. He immediately hugged on to Rey’s legs, nervously turning his face toward Poe. The stranger. The outsider.

All the breath left his chest.

Because when those eyes latched on to his, it wasn’t hazel but his own soft caramel staring back at him. He did some quick mental math.

Poe looked up at Rey, mouth agape.

Her hand rested on the boy’s head, carding through those soft curls. His soft curls. His mom’s curls. With a deep breath, she met Poe’s gaze.

“Poe, I’d like you to meet my son.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Suprise Dad!Poe for the win?
> 
> Dare I ask if you would like more of this? Because, there's definitely some more of this...
> 
> Oh, and here's the moodboard I couldn't post because it's 100% spoiler.  
> 
> 
> (And a huge shout out to GothamOracle, poedammerin, and waningicarus who all attempted to talk me through embedding this when I couldn't figure it out, and extra kudos to GothamOracle who eventually talked me through it in a way that got it to work.)


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In the wake of her revelation, Rey faces some questions from Poe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As a surprise to absolutely no one, I have decided to continue this story. For some reason, I can't get the thing out of my head. It's kind of slow and sad and very much reminding me of Under the Tatooine Suns. So if that was your jam, this is probably going to strike the right chord with you. 
> 
> The game plan is to post this story once a week. I hope you're along for the ride. I have a lot planned, and it's going to be a good one.

Rey watched those words sink in as if in slow motion. His face went on a journey, cycling from confusion to pained to wonder in the space of a breath. It took another for the realization to take hold, his eyes wide as they met hers.

There was a question there, one she answered with a stiff nod of her head. 

He turned his attention back to the boy trying to hide behind her robes, crouching so they were face to face. “Hi. I’m Poe.” 

The boy simply looked at Poe before turning his eyes up to her, concern lining his fine little features. “Mama, why does the man have my name?”

Gods, she’d forgotten how alike they looked. Or maybe she’d chosen to ignore it all these years, but with both Poes standing next to each other and looking up at her there was no denying it. 

But now was not the time to worry about that. Based on the look on Poe Senior’s face as he got to his feet, she had a lot of explaining to do.

She smiled down at her son. “Hey Button, how about you go back to the house with Jyssa and play with your ships, give Mama and her friend a few minutes to catch up.”

He eyed her for a moment, sensing that something was afoot. He was so smart, her little man, so intuitive that sometimes he just blew her away. But he was also four, and easily distracted by the promise of toy ships. 

“Ok,” he said, finally letting go of her hips. He turned to the man still standing silent and dumbfounded in front of him and gave a little wave. “Bye, Poe.”

Poe lifted a hand in response. “Bye.”

Rey nodded to Jyssa, the younger woman extending a hand that Poe happily took, already chattering away about the new model X-wing he’d just got, the words “T-90” reaching her ears.

Like father, like son.

Speaking of the father, she turned her attention to Poe the elder, his own eyes locked on their little boy’s retreating form like he was trying to memorize every bit of him. 

She smiled, remembering those first days all too well, where she’d simply sat with little Poe in her arms, marveling at the perfection of his ten tiny fingers and ten tiny toes, that little button of a nose, the soft, chubby cheeks. Completely in awe of this bite-sized human she’d made. She’d thought she’d never be able to love another being as much as she loved him in that moment. Her heart felt big enough to burst. And somehow it only grew from there.

So she could appreciate that Poe would want to drink in the little man he’d become, with his skinny little legs and knock knees and that scrape on one knobbly elbow that he hadn’t let her put bacta on. As such, she waited until both he and Jyssa were out of sight before she cleared her throat.

Poe turned to her, his eyes big and shining in the dying sun. There was hurt in those eyes that looked so much like her son’s ( _ their son’s _ , her brain corrected), a betrayal that ran deep. Not that she blamed him. At least, not completely.

“I’m sure you have a million questions.” She struggled to keep her face blank and voice even. Sure, she’d known that eventually this day would come, but it didn’t make it any easier. 

Naturally, there was only one question on Poe’s lips. “Is he mine?”

She tried not to be offended by it, of course that would be his first question, the most logical question for anyone to ask the first time they saw a kid belonging to an ex-lover whose age hit just right. It still stung a little. She didn’t exactly get around. Which he’d known, once upon a time.

“He is.”

Poe released a breath that sounded more like a sob, turning away from her as he ran a hand through his hair. It was much shorter than the last time she’d seen him, back when his curls had been long and thick and floppy and felt like silk when she ran her fingers through them. Now, it was shaved close on the sides and back of his head, leaving it just long enough on top to get a feel for the curl. There was a sprinkling of grey now, too. Not so much that he looked old. Just enough that he looked distinguished. Dignified.

But now was not the time to be worrying about how good he looked after all these years (because oh, he looked good), especially when he had spun back around to face her. 

“How– What–” He seemed unable to voice whatever was going through his mind. “Why? I would have dropped everything to come here. I would have been in his life. Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Why didn’t you answer my comm?” she snapped, surprising even herself. All these years later and she was still that same scared girl, waiting, hoping for him to call her back. Raw. Open. Pregnant. Alone.

His face fell. 

“Your comm,” he repeated. Not a question, an acknowledgement. He knew exactly what she was talking about, where he’d gone wrong.

Silence fell over them. It hadn’t even been five minutes and they were at an impasse.

The wind kicked up, tugging at her robes and blowing strands of hair into her face. “Come on, let’s get back to the temple. We have a lot to talk about, and it feels like rain.” Sure enough, a crack of thunder rumbled over the plain. Far enough that they were in no danger, but still headed their way. “Will you be staying the night?”

This was good. Normal almost. She just needed to focus on the concrete tasks, and not the fact that she was about to lose it any second.

“If you’ll have me.”

She nodded, trying not to think of the other way those words could be taken. Right. Focus on the concrete. “I’ll have Jyssa make up a room.” She started toward the low cluster of buildings she called home, only making it a few steps before she realized Poe wasn’t with her. “You coming?”

When she looked back, Poe was still perched on the edge of that hill, frozen as if in suspended animation, the dying sun limning him in golden light. From here, the line of his jaw was sharp enough to cut, his face a work of art outlined as it was in all that gold. The expression there was one of heartbreaking disbelief. A look that she, for better or worse, had put on his face.

He shook his head slightly as if to snap out of a trance. “Yeah, of course. I just have to stop by the ship to grab my bag and BB-8.”

“Bee’s with you?” She found herself smiling in spite of the situation. There was always one thing they’d agreed upon, and that was BB-8.

Poe’s own smile tugged reluctantly at his lips. “Of course. He’s real excited to see you, too.” There was something almost sad about the way he said it. Odd.

“Well, come on.” 

She didn’t look back to see if he was following, but she could feel him a step or two behind her nonetheless, his gaze on her back leaving her more self conscious than she cared to admit. As such, her gait felt stilted, her body unlike her own, hyperaware as she was of each and every movement.

Her mind reeled.

Though she knew how it looked, it had never been the plan to keep Poe from meeting his son. First, little Poe had been so tiny, and she so tired, what with a newborn to take care of and a temple to run, that traveling had been out of the question. And this wasn’t the kind of news to be delivered on a comm. Not that he’d answer one anyway. But with each passing year, it became a little bit easier to make excuses - the new students, Poe’s head cold, the rainy season - and even harder to justify that she hadn’t already told him. Until it was too late. 

But then there was that other reason, the feeling she’d had from the moment Poe had been born. The reason why she’d never left the planet with him, why she kept him off any registries or Republic databases. What could be the very reason Poe’s namesake had shown up here.

She shook that thought off. No. That was just an irrational fear. Maternal instincts combined with an active imagination running rampant. Nobody knew her secret. This was just a routine check gone wrong.

Right?

It was those unsettling thoughts that found them face to face with Poe’s ship, a zippy little shuttle too boring and clean to actually belong to him.

Honestly, she’d been expecting an X-wing. When she’d left, he’d still been racing around the galaxy in a T-70, rooting out cells of First Order sympathizers. It hit her that she actually had no clue what he did these days, the five years since she left his bed with a single note of apology surely bringing changes. For all she knew, he could be some hotshot Senator or leading the entire Republic. Though something told her he wouldn’t stray quite so far from his first love in life: flying.

As soon as Poe hit the ramp, an orange and white blur launched itself at her, Bee stopping just shy of bowling her over as he shouted a string of binary so rapid she could barely keep up. 

Automatically, she got down on one knee, checking his antenna as was customary. Once that was out of the way, she gave him a skritch, realizing that he couldn’t technically feel it but knowing he liked it anyway. “Oh Bee, I’ve missed you, too.”

He gave her a quick rundown, telling her how boring life was now that the war was over, the long meetings they attended, how rarely he got to fly. It seemed Poe was something high up in the Navy. She filed it away for later.

By the time she looked up, Poe was watching her, bag in hand. His face was locked down, all emotion hidden from her. 

The wind picked up again, this time with fine droplets that sprinkled against her forehead and cheeks. They had minutes before the skies opened up.

Rey got back to her feet. “We should get inside,” she said, her eye on the dark clouds rolling in. “Before the rain.”

Poe nodded, a stony silence permeating the air. 

But he followed as she led their little party into the temple, Rey taking them through halls she knew like the back of her own hand. They’d done a lot of work when she’d first arrived, building and rebuilding and updating until they had a thoroughly modern space. She could feel Poe’s surprise as they walked, like he’d been expecting bare stone walls and crude furniture. 

They ended up in a small room she generally used for meetings, a long table dominating the space with chairs scattered around. She offered him a seat, taking the one next to him. No table between them.

It was so strange having him here. At once, it felt like both no time had passed and an entire lifetime had passed, those five years nothing and everything at once. There was so much about him she knew, and yet the man before her was a complete stranger.

“Are you hungry? Can I get you something to eat? To drink?” she was babbling, putting off one of several inevitable conversations they would have. “I could use something warm. Can I get you caf? Tea?”

There was a moment of silence before he answered. “Tea would be nice.”

She nodded, jumping to her feet. It felt good to have something tangible to do, none of these pesky emotions that were threatening to undo her at every turn. She grabbed the first person she found, asking them to have the kitchens send up some tea. It was rare that she didn’t just do it herself, but these were extenuating circumstances.

All too soon she found herself face to face with Poe’s silence once more.

“So…” she started, unsure of where exactly to begin. “I’m sure you have more questions.”

There was no hesitation. “Did you know?” 

Rey blinked at the question. 

“When you slept with me that night, did you know you were leaving?” His voice was like steel, his face cut from stone. There was no give in either.

Of course, he’d start at the hardest part first. He’d never been one for taking the easy route. She closed her eyes, not wanting to see that face when she answered, “I did.”

“Why?”

When she opened her eyes, she was treated to the full force of Poe’s anger, a look on his face she’d never seen directed at her before.

“You have to understand, I hadn’t meant to let it get that far. We both knew what my plans were, the galaxy’s expectations. I was going to lead the Jedi into a new age. Pick up where Luke left off. And the Jedi had rules about this kind of thing.” 

Across from her, Poe seemed unmoved.

She went on. “I cared about you. Too much. I thought - selfishly perhaps - that a clean break would be best. That you could move on, and I could do the same. What I didn’t expect was to fall into bed with you that last night.

“We’d been circling each other for so long, I didn’t think it would actually happen. And then when it did…” she trailed off, remembering that night all too well. The brush of his skin on hers, the feel of coming apart at the seams, the overwhelming love she felt in his arms. She swallowed thickly. “I knew that if I waited, even just for you to wake up, I’d never leave. So I did what I thought had to be done.”

She half expected him to get up and walk out, to scream and rail against her. Either one she probably deserved. So she was taken by surprise when Poe did neither.

“But why leave at all?” he asked, his voice too soft. Still heartbroken all these years later. “You could have chosen anywhere to make this temple. Hells, there was a pretty big one on Coruscant at one time. So why did you need to come all the way out here?”

Leave it to Poe to get right to the heart of the matter. He’d never been one to mince words. At least, not with her.

“There were… whispers back then. About who I really was, why I was able to defeat Palpatine.”

Poe waved that off. “They were just whispers.”

“In my experience, if there were whispers, then they already knew. They were just looking for confirmation at that point.” She shook her head. “And a Jedi with a dark legacy, very much attached to the leader of the Resistance? Even to me, that sounded like a recipe for a fall.”

His face screwed up in confusion. “You would never fall.”

Even all these years later, with everything she’d done, he still believed in her. It was enough to make her swallow down a fresh wave of tears. 

“That’s generous of you to say,” she managed to get out, clearing her throat a second later. “But back then, I wasn’t so sure. I thought I needed to stick to the Code, just in case.”

“And now?”

“Well, let’s just say that two months later when the test turned positive, I decided that the Code was really more a set of guidelines.” She gave him a weak smile. “That’s when I called you.”

It wasn’t an admonishment, at least not this time, but Poe’s face fell anyway. Sure, a lot of this was her fault, but not all. He shouldered some of that blame as well.

She remembered that desperate comm, trying to keep the tears out of her voice, apologizing for what she’d done and begging - yes, begging - him to call her back. For days, she sat waiting for him to call her back, never daring to stray more than a few feet from her comm. But that call never came. It had been received, she could see that. It had been watched. But it was not returned.

After the third day, the realization hit. She was alone. If she wanted to do this, it would be on her own.

Poe opened his mouth to say only gods knew what, when Jyssa marched through the door, a steaming mug in either hand and D-O hot on her heels. 

Rey accepted the mug with thanks, grateful for the sweet warmth and the distraction. It felt like she was on the verge of tears every five minutes.

As if on cue, D-O noticed Bee, his shouted, “F-friend!” nearly drowned out by a binary scream. 

She smiled as the two droids circled each other, beeping and chattering and generally making a bunch of noise as they reacquainted themselves with each other. Just two old friends meeting for the first time in five years. That seemed to be going around.

“Poe’s gonna be so excited,” she said, not really thinking about her words. “He is absolutely obsessed with droids.”

When she looked up, she found Poe’s eyes shining in the low light, his voice rough when he asked, “What’s he like?”

The knowledge of what she’d taken from the man in front of her weighed heavily, threatening to break her heart. 

“He’s perfect.” Her own words came out as a sob. At the look on his face, she laughed. “But that’s not very descriptive is it?” 

Focusing on the mug in her hands, she took a deep breath, willing her tears not to fall. “Gods, how do you reduce a whole person to just a few words? He’s smart and sweet and silly. Too clever for his own good. Every room he walks into is a little brighter for it. Funny. No, scratch that, he thinks he’s funny. Which is so endearing you end up laughing anyway. And gods, that kid has more energy than should be humanly possible. 

“He’s so affectionate. He loves fiercely, and he’s not afraid to show it. In fact, you’re just as likely to get a hug as a hello from him. And such a tender heart. To the point that he insists on feeding the loth-cats that hang around the temple. They follow him around outside like he’s a little god.”

Across from her, Poe was eating up each and every morsel she gave him, his face still hungry for more.

“He’s brave. Maybe a little reckless. And stubborn, oh gods is he stubborn. Then again, with us for parents, I’m not really sure what I expected.”

She earned the smallest of huffed laughs at that. A tiny victory. 

“He is obsessed with ships and space travel, even though he’s never been off the planet. Sometimes, when he thinks I’m not looking, he sneaks off into the Falcon and pretends to pilot her.”

Her voice got soft. “There are times he reminds me so much of you, my chest aches.”

Poe’s face crumpled at that, one hand reaching across the table to grasp hers. Always the peacemaker, the one to make the first move. “You’re right, he sounds perfect.”

A not wholly uncomfortable silence fell over them, both a little choked up in the wake of all that truth. 

“Mama! Mama!” came little Poe’s voice as he crashed into the room, Rey and Poe practically jumping apart. He immediately climbed into her arms, his weight and warmth the most familiar thing to her. “Will you come and tuck me in?”

She was acutely aware of the elder Poe’s eyes locked on them as she smiled down at her son. “Of course, Button. Just give me a minute?”

He nodded sagely, seeming to notice that they weren’t alone for the first time. Especially when BB-8 rolled into view from under a chair, letting out a surprised little beep as he took in the miniature Poe on her lap. 

The droid looked from Poe to Rey and back again, the truth obvious. Even if it hadn’t quite sunk into his processors. 

Little Poe was off her lap in a flash. “Who’s this?” He was already on his knees, Bee inching forward to investigate. 

Since Poe seemed either unable or unwilling to answer, Rey did it for him. “That’s BB-8. He’s an old friend of mine from the Resistance.”

“Cool.” He was looking into Bee’s sensor. “Hi, my name’s Poe. Oh, your antenna’s crooked.”

Bee chirped, lowering his dome to let the little boy fix it. History repeating itself.

Across from her, Poe looked close to tears as he watched his droid meet his son for the first time.

“Bee says ‘hi’ back,” she said, a little misty eyed herself. 

Poe looked back at her from the ground. “Mama, can you teach me binary?” 

This kid. Sometimes she swore he read her mind.

“You know, I could. But my friend Poe is way better at it than I am. I bet if you ask really nicely, he’ll help you.”

Little Poe quirked his head, taking in his namesake for a moment. “Did you serve with my mama in the Resistance, too?”

For his part, the elder Poe caught her eye, a look of gratitude on his face before he turned back to the little guy. “Sure did.”

“What did you do?”

“I was a pilot.”

Their son’s eyes went wide. “No way. Did you fly an X-wing?”

“Like there’s any other ship to fly.”

“Wow.” The word was barely more than a breath. He turned those giant caramel eyes on her. “Mama, did you know he flew an X-wing?” 

Rey bit back a smile. “I did.”

He turned back to the other Poe. “Will you teach me binary? And how to fly an X-wing?”

Poe chuckled, seeming to get the hang of this. “Let’s start with the binary, and go from there.”

“Okay.” His eyes narrowed again. “Is your name really Poe, too?”

This was slightly more dangerous water, Poe looking up to Rey for guidance. She nodded her head in encouragement.

“It is. It’s a pretty good one, if I do say so myself.”

Poe watched him for a second before deciding that was an acceptable answer and turned back to Rey. “Read me a story?”

“Sure. Why don’t you get in bed, and I’ll be there in a minute.” She ran her hand through his curls, unruly as ever. He desperately needed a trim, but refused to let her cut it.

“Okay. ‘Night, Poe!” He was already off and running again, an absolute ball of energy in the smallest possible package. “Come on, BB-8! I’ll show you my room.”

Bee followed happily behind, D-O coming out of hiding to trail them both. The galaxy’s cutest parade.

Poe’s eyes followed them as they went, an expression so wistful on his handsome face that her heart gave a tug. When they finally disappeared down the hall, he turned his attention back to her.

“Thank you.” His voice was so damn earnest it threatened to break her. “For letting me know him.”

Because of course he was the kind of man who would thank her even after she’d essentially hid his son from him for four years. Rey swallowed thickly. Suddenly, she needed to be anywhere but here.

“I should,” she stood, gesturing back toward the bedrooms, “go tuck him in. Make sure Bee isn’t teaching him curse words. Or vice versa.” She took a step backward. “I’ll send someone to show you to your room.”

There was disappointment on his face, she would have sworn it. But that made no sense. It must have been a trick of the light.

“Of course.” He paused, at war with himself, looking like he wanted to say something further but ultimately chickening out. “Good night.”

She was about to slip from the room, home free, when something made her pause on the threshold. She hadn’t been completely honest with him. And it was eating her alive.

“He’s like me,” she said, turning to find Poe watching her. “That’s why I kept him here, off the radar. He has the Force. And I thought if people found out where I came from, where he came from... I didn’t want him to have to deal with that kind of legacy. So I kept things quiet. I thought you should know.”

At that, she slipped from the room, leaving Poe to his thoughts and his dawning comprehension.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Let me know what you think of this one so far.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Poe goes to Rose looking for answers, all he receives is more questions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoa, can I just say that I am absolutely blown away by the response I've received so far on this story? It's been a long time since I was quite this excited for a fic, and the fact that a bunch of other people are too? Absolutely amazing.
> 
> If you squint, there's a tiny bit of plot developing in all these emotions this chapter, but have no fear, this story will remain extra character driven.

As Rey dropped her bomb and swept from the room, it was finally starting to make sense. The midnight disappearance. The strange comm five years ago. The complete radio silence since then.

She was terrified, that much was certain. And knowing what he did, that concern wasn’t without reason. He needed to tell her about why he’d been sent. Sooner, rather than later. But the main takeaway of the trip seemed to cloud all his better judgement.

He had a son. He met his son. He was going to get to know his son.

Even a couple hours later, the surprise hadn’t faded. There was anger there, just below the surface, and he was sure he’d get to that later, but at the moment that strange wonder and joy that he’d felt looking at his kid for the first time (And the second. And the third.) pushed everything else down.

Gods, he was exactly what Poe had imagined. No, scratch that. He was better. More somehow, a whole complex person that Poe’s little fantasies hadn’t come close to touching. And he certainly hadn’t expected to find his own eyes staring back at him. His mom’s eyes.

His mom’s eyes, his mom’s curls. He hadn’t realized how much of her was in him until he saw those same features translated to his son.

Don’t get him wrong, there was Rey there, too. The fine-boned face. The tiny button nose (thank the Maker). But from the second he’d come into view there had been no denying it, no hesitation, no confusion. That kid was his.

(And the elation! He’d never felt something like that in his entire life, the unbridled joy at the knowledge that they’d made something- someone - together.)

That wasn’t even taking into account the Force of it all. His kid had the Force. Suddenly, that strange tug when he landed made sense. 

He hadn’t even been gone ten minutes, and already Poe missed him. Sneaking off to his room to watch him sleep was probably frowned upon, but it crossed his mind anyway. Five more minutes, he just wanted five more minutes with him. 

“General Dameron? I can show you to your room.”

Apparently, it would have to wait until tomorrow.

Poe followed the girl - Jyssa, if he remembered correctly - down a hallway opposite the one Rey had disappeared down, taking him even farther away from where he wanted - no, needed - to be.

It was amazing how strong that pull was, even after a few minutes in his presence. Just another thing he’d never realized. Gave him a new appreciation for how hard it must have been for his own parents during the war. 

Down one hall and up another, Jyssa led him through the quiet temple, the steady drumming of rain against the roof the only sound. When they finally stopped in front of one of the dozens of nondescript doors lining the hall, he realized they hadn’t seen another soul. Apparently, Jedi went to bed early.

She opened the door. “If you need anything, I’m just down the hall. Goodnight, General.”

“Thanks.” The word was barely out of his mouth before she disappeared, leaving him to his thoughts and the empty room.

It was a lot better appointed than he’d been expecting, modern enough to rival his apartment back in Coruscant, if a little small. Bed, table, dresser, they dominated the space, a little door on one wall most likely leading to a ‘fresher. Not bad at all. And here he’d been worried he’d have to sleep on his ship.

He dropped down onto the bed, trying and failing to get his mind to stop racing. 

The entire day felt a little surreal. From the trip to finding Rey out on that ridge to learning that he had a kid. A kid with a wide smile and curly hair, who loved droids and ships and apparently loth-cats. Who he was going to teach binary, and maybe to fly. 

How the hells had he ended up here? 

Well, he knew at least one person responsible. And she was definitely due a comm.

So Poe dug out the codes for Rose’s encrypted channel and hit send.

It took no time at all for her face to burst to life in front of him. “Hey, I didn’t expect to hear from you so soon. How is Sorgan?”

But Poe wasn’t here for niceties. 

“Did you know?”

“Well hello to you too,” she said, face falling enough to tell him she knew exactly what he was referring to. “And I’m afraid you’ll have to be more specific.”

“Did you know about him? About my son?”

Rose closed her eyes, a confirmation if he’d ever seen one. “Well, shit.”

“Yeah, my thoughts exactly. A little warning as to what I was walking into would have been nice.”

Her face turned serious in the bright blue light of the holo. “I swear I didn’t know.” Then, a second later, “At least not for sure.”

Poe simply fixed her with a look.

“Ok, there were some whispers,” she relented, Rey’s earlier words immediately jumping to mind. 

If there were whispers, then they already knew. 

“What kind of whispers?”

“The kind when coupled with the rumors about Rey’s parentage you don’t ignore.”

“Rose…” It was a warning tone, Poe just about done with her half-truths and cryptic words.

“A little boy. Very strong in the Force. Maybe too strong, if you catch my drift. Who seemingly belonged to the Jedi Master herself.”

Poe scrubbed a hand over his face. Of course. He should have known any child of Rey’s would be exceptionally strong in the Force. It seemed like his blood did little to dilute it.

“So, I did some math and made an educated guess.” She at least had the good sense to look a little ashamed. Her face turned serious. “Listen, if I could have sent anyone else, I would have. But even I couldn’t make this just go away. And I tried. That’s why I sent you.”

“To send me into an ambush? To torture me?”

“No. I figured if the rumors were true, you’d be the most motivated to help her. To find a solution and fix this.”

Poe ground his teeth at the implication. Using his kid as “motivation” sounded one step away from bait. And if Rose couldn’t do anything, what the hells did she think he could do?

“How? How do I fix this?”

She sighed, a look quickly approaching pity transforming her face. “I don’t know. You know the CSI is like a law unto itself.” 

Poe did know, hells he’d been all for it back when they were trying to figure out how to rebuild. They’d need a strong hand this time around if they didn’t want to fall into the same trap, a group willing to do what had to be done to keep the First Order in the history books where they belonged, no matter how unsavory. And if that meant there was one group with more power than the rest, then so be it. They had other checks and balances to make sure things didn’t get out of hand.

Right?

But now wasn’t the time to worry about that. Rose was still talking. “But I have every confidence that you’ll figure it out.”

“Gee, thanks.” Poe paused, a lightbulb going off. “Hey, what about Finn?”

“What about him?” A deliberately cagey answer.

“Do you still talk to him?”

Her face shuttered.

“Yeah, from time to time.”

A pang of jealousy went through him. He’d fallen out of touch with the former stormtrooper years ago. Now that he thought about it, about the same time Finn had joined Rey at the temple. Which suddenly made a lot more sense.

“And he didn’t mention anything? Like, ‘Oh, yeah, Rey had Poe’s baby and is now hiding him on Sorgan.’”

“I swear, he didn’t say a word.”

Poe just stared.

“Listen, we don’t see each other that often, and when we do, we sure as hells aren’t spending our time talking about you or Rey, if you catch my drift.”

Poe’s face heated as watched hers for any twitch or sign of a lie but found none. She was telling the truth.

After a minute, her face softened into a smile. “So, what’s his name?”

“Poe,” he answered automatically. It still felt a bit surreal to be saying it out loud.

“Well, that’s a bit on the nose.”

Poe snorted.

“Listen,” said Rose, her face turning serious again. “I know this isn’t ideal, but think of it as an opportunity. Didn’t you always want a family?”

He had. Though, certainly not like this. He’d imagined being there for it all. The happy tears when they found out, late night cravings, the birth. Feedings, changings, first steps, first words. He’d missed just about everything. 

Some of that must have shown on his face because the next words out of Rose’s mouth were, “I’m sorry. I should have at least warned you.”

“Yes, you should have.”

Rose smiled. “Well, at least you have a chance to get to know him now.” She looked over her shoulder at something Poe couldn’t see. “Listen, I’ve got to go. I’ll send you everything I have, official and unofficial. Try and figure out what they’re after so you can give them something else. I’ll be in touch.”

“Thanks, Rose.”

“Bye, Poe.”

She wasted no time in clicking off, a nervous look on her face just before it disappeared completely. Instead of feeling better, that call had only succeeded in making him feel worse. 

Her parting words felt so much more ominous than what she’d told him in her office a few days ago. And the fact that she’d tried to stop them looking into Rey in the first place. And hadn’t succeeded. Well, that was enough to worry about.

A cheerful ping from his datapad heralded an encrypted message, Poe opening it to find the promised information from Rose. He scrolled through. And scrolled. And scrolled.

He shouldn’t have been surprised anymore by Rose’s lies, but here they were.

These were Rose’s own notes, names and dates and things she’d overheard. Based on this, they’d been gathering info on Rey for months. Possibly years. Movements, mainly Finn’s, had been tracked, Rey never really having left the planet herself. 

What the hells was going on here?

Nothing good, that’s what.

It seemed that someone high up on the Council of Security and Intelligence had a little obsession with Rey, Rose’s info including chart after chart she’d found trying to detail the Jedi’s lineage. They’d gotten close, too. It seemed that Rey was right; they just needed confirmation. 

Down the rabbit hole he went. There were names he recognized, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker, Leia Organa, and Luke Skywalker, among them. And others he’d never heard of. Someone named Qui Gon? A single line that linked Obi-Wan to someone named Korkie with a question mark. That was later crossed out. 

It took a while, but he finally waded through the nearly unintelligible notes ( _ Secura? - sp. incompat./Kestis - age? _ ) to find what he was looking for.

Sheev Palpatine (Sidious) sat near the top of the page, a line going up to meet Plagueis above him and one below to reach Vader. There were a series of dotted lines coming off Palpatine, most struck through or written over with “FAILED” by stylus. He caught Snoke’s name somewhere along the line, though there was a hastily scribbled  _ clone? strandcast? _ next to it. Finally towards the end, there was a hard line, the label “Unknown Male” connected to it. In the margins, someone had used the stylus to ask  _ biological? clone? _ Though clone had been circled several times as whoever had done this came to a consensus.

Below, though not technically connected, sat Rey’s name, the word “boy” and a question mark just to the right. 

Rey had told him and Finn enough to know who that unknown male was. Her father, Palpatine’s son. Well, technically his clone. Though it seemed like whoever wrote this hadn’t found enough evidence to fully connect the dots, it was close enough for Poe.

He sat back, his shoulders stiff and aching from the position. Kriff, why hadn’t Rose said this from the beginning? Though he supposed she’d want the rumors of the kid to be substantiated before she believed any of this insanity. If the kid was made up, then maybe the rest of this wouldn’t hold water. The ravings of an obviously troubled person. Only, that wasn’t the case, was it?

His eyes drooped, the lids feeling like sandpaper as the day finally caught up with him. Between the travel and revelations and now this, he was exhausted, his brain no longer functioning enough to be of any use. Just a swirling mess of dotted lines and questions. He’d just have to start fresh in the morning. Make sense of it then.

At that, he rose from the desk, grabbing his toiletries and making his way to what he hoped was the en suite. A shared fresher would just about break him.

So when he hit the door, he was delighted to find a small but well appointed fresher just for him. Deciding to forgo the shower, he brushed his teeth, eyes catching on his reflection in the mirror.

Gods, he looked old. Or maybe it was just tired. The words felt interchangeable these days. His once dark hair was now peppered with grey, the change even more noticeable since he’d cut it. Lines had appeared on his formerly smooth face, starting innocently enough as twin fans near his eyes. Laugh lines. Not the sign of old age, but a life spent laughing. Then they’d found their way to his mouth, small brackets that appeared when he smiled. Now they’d materialized on his forehead to complete the look. And don’t even get him started on those near-permanent bags under his eyes that had appeared sometime around his thirty-fifth birthday, no amount of sleep able to make them any less prominent. 

He scrubbed a hand over that face, the rasp of his day old beard loud in the small room. Nothing he could do about it now. It was what it was. So he splashed water on his face and made his way to the bed.

Though he was exhausted, the kind of exhausted that sunk into your very bones, as soon as he hit the pillow, his mind started to race.

Tomorrow, he’d get to see Poe again tomorrow. It still felt a little surreal. A kid. He had a kid.

A kid that despite everything, Rey had named after him. 

He thought back to five years ago, that night burned into his brain. There wasn’t a minute that he couldn’t recall in perfect detail, the culmination of years of friendship and bickering and adventure ending in one idyllic night. She’d been so perfect, and he, incandescently happy, taking this as the start of what he hoped would be a life together. 

Because nothing about what happened between them was a surprise to him. In fact, it felt inevitable. He’d been in love with her practically since he’d met her. Maybe even before, Finn’s stories enough to put stars in his eyes before he’d ever said so much as a word to her. So when he finally clapped eyes on her, their savior on Crait, surrounded by floating rocks, it had been love at first sight.

Not that he’d acknowledged it. They had a war to win, after all. Though it found its way out regardless, their penchant for bickering legendary throughout the Resistance. He almost had to laugh. She probably hated him for most of that, his unacknowledged feelings making him harder on her than he intended to be. He just wanted her with them, with him and Finn. Where she belonged.

It wasn’t until after the war, well, after Exegol specifically, that something had changed between them. 

Like most things with Rey, he remembered that moment with perfect clarity, the second his eyes found her in the crowd. But it wasn’t only his eyes, no, there had been a tug, a little nudge that made him look up at the exact instant she came into view. These days, he recognized it for what it was - the Force, guiding him - though in the moment, the only thing he could feel was pure relief.

It snowballed from there.

Though things started innocently enough - a shared meal here, a quick game of sabacc there - it didn’t take long for them to morph into night long conversations and watching the sunrise on whatever planet they happened to be on at the time, culminating in that one perfect night.

Poe swallowed thickly as he stared up at the ceiling, thunder rumbling in the distance. 

She was perfection, a word he even now seemed to overuse when it came to Rey. But was it overuse if it was true? Sure, he’d had other words the next morning when he woke up brokenhearted in an empty bed, but that night had been magnificent, idyllic, blissful. Perfect.

And he’d spent the next five years trying to forget it.

In the end, he’d regretted it, assuming that he’d jumped the gun, scared her off in some way when he’d confessed how he felt, showed her with each and every way he knew how with his body. And maybe he had. But there was certainly one good thing that had come from their one night of bliss, and his name just also happened to be Poe.

Was it possible to love someone in an instant? 

Poe. His son. Even halfway across the temple, he swore he could still feel him, a connection that tugged at him in the quiet dark. It had barely been an hour, but somehow he already missed the kid, resenting the fact that his droid got to spend time with him when he couldn’t.

That’s where he was. Jealous of his damn droid.

It took every ounce of self control he had to stay in his bed, to not cross the temple just to watch the kid sleep. A protective sort of feeling no doubt amplified by Rose’s information and which probably would have been frowned upon. Scratch that, definitely would have been frowned upon. And possibly met with lightsabers. 

Tomorrow. He’d get to see him tomorrow. At least, he hoped. He wasn’t sure Rey had actually said that. But there’s no way she would keep him from the kid. Well, at least not again.

He wanted to be mad about that, he really did, but all he could feel at the moment was the wonder and awe, tinged by that hint of sadness. He’d missed so much. First steps, first words. He’d have to ask Rey if she had any pictures. Or better yet, holos. He wanted nothing more than to drink in every moment of little Poe’s life. 

But that was the past. Nothing he could do about it now. What he could do was vow to be there for the future. There were still firsts to be had. And he vowed right then and there to be present for each and every one. Starting with tomorrow’s binary lesson. 

He rolled over, determined to find sleep. Tomorrow was a big day.

Rey stared up at the crack in her ceiling. She’d been meaning to fix it, worried that one day she’d be woken by a drip or worse, but she honestly forgot about the damn thing until she was looking at it. Which was generally in the middle of the night, when she was trying and failing to sleep. 

Much like that night. Sleep eluded her, the revelations of the day making rest all but impossible. Poe was here. He’d met their son. 

If she was being honest, she’d expected him to be angry, to yell and shout and generally rail against her for keeping this from him. He’d done more for less. BB-8 hadn’t even been on fire. (Well, what was left of him wasn’t.) 

And anyway, she deserved that anger. She could have handled it. What she couldn’t handle was that heartbreaking look on his face, the knowledge of all the years he’d lost with his son bared to her. And then thanking her for it. That was so much worse than anger. 

Somewhere overhead, thunder crackled.

Rey smiled. It was only a matter of time.

So she bided it by thinking of Poe. The elder one.

He was so good with little Poe. Even just that small interaction. Then again, she always knew he would be. 

It was something they’d talked about on occasion, back when they were friends, killing time during a hyperspace jump or waiting for a mission to begin. Back then, it was just referred to as “the future,” some nebulous time when the war would truly be over and their real lives would begin. Poe, the only child of a very much in love Rebel couple, wanted loads of kids, the huge family his parents had been denied thanks to the war. His words painted pictures of a farm and green, growing things, plenty of room and fresh air for all those children to run and play.

She’d always kept quiet during those conversations, her own desire for a family relegated to the one she’d found in the Resistance thanks to that pesky Jedi Code. It was enough, she’d told herself. She’d never known the real thing, so it was probably even better this way. 

Funny, how things turned out.

Honestly, she was shocked to find no ring on his finger when he showed up. Not that that meant anything. Some men didn’t wear them. Though knowing Poe, she wouldn’t count him among them. No, he’d want to shout it from the rooftops, that’s just who he was. And judging by the way he reacted to their son, she’d bet there weren’t any other kids waiting in the wings.

Something to think on. 

Just not right then, not when her door opened in that moment, revealing a curly haired little boy and two droids. 

“Mama?”

“What’s wrong, baby?” she asked, already knowing the answer. 

“I’m scared.” His eyes didn’t quite meet hers, voice shaky in the dark. He had never been a fan of storms, something that sent him to her bed most nights thanks to the Sorgan weather.

Rey lifted up the covers, patting the mattress next to her. “Come on.” When he went to pick up Dio, she shook her head. “No droids on the bed.”

“But Mama, they’re scared, too!” 

Rey tamped down a smile. “They’ll be okay on the floor, I promise. Now, come on.” Another crack of thunder echoed overhead.

Without further ado, he dove into the bed, attaching himself to her middle with those strong little arms. Her hand immediately started to card through his hair. “It’s okay, baby.” Though she knew he should sleep in his own bed more often, she secretly loved these late night snuggle sessions, knowing instinctively that they wouldn’t last forever. Soon enough, her baby would be too big and independent for this type of thing. So she had to soak it up now.

She hummed softly, an old lullaby that was one of the few memories she had of her own mother. It never failed to put Poe to sleep.

“Hey, Mama?” He looked up, his voice already softer and a little sleepy.

“Yeah, baby?”

“Do you think Mr. Poe will teach me how to fly?”

It killed her a little that he called his father “Mr. Poe,” but she hadn’t exactly had that talk with him yet. Let them get to know each other first, make sure Poe was going to stick around for a bit, before she dropped that bomb.

“I don’t know. You’ll have to ask him again.”

He accepted that answer with a sage little nod that made him look well beyond his four years. “Did he fly a T-90?”

“A T-70. T-90s weren’t around back then.” 

“Really?”

Rey smiled. “Really.” Then decided to go on, “But his ship was special. Extra fast. And he painted it black and orange, so everyone knew the best pilot in the Resistance was coming when they saw it.”

“Wow.” His voice was barely more than a breath, his eyes half closed on the pillow next to her. Another crack of thunder had him snuggling closer. “Mama, will you sing to me?”

“Of course.” She started the lullaby, her voice high and clear in the dark room. It was a sad song, something about a moon and missing the ones you loved, but it was the only she’d ever had a real connection to. So that’s what she sang, Poe’s breaths turning even almost immediately. But even after he’d fallen asleep, she sang it through to the end, wishing once she got there that there was someone to do the same for her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Father-son bonding commences next chapter. See you next week!


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When the real reason for Poe's visit comes to light, Poe and Rey formulate a plan no one is happy with.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, welcome aboard the angst train. I'm not going to lie, I kind of love how this story is turning out. It's slow and moody and honestly giving me life in these grey days of winter. Hopefully, it's doing the same for you.
> 
> Though if you're worried, take heart that I have yet to end a story on a sad note.

Poe woke early the next morning, the sounds of the temple coming to life all around him. Judging by the sun, it was early, far earlier than he normally got up these days. But there was literally nothing in the galaxy that would keep him in his bed that day. 

He was going to see Poe.

At least, he hoped.

But that hope was more than enough to propel him from bed, dressing quickly before he was out the door and into the temple at large. 

What had been largely empty and quiet last night was now a bustling hub of activity, far more people than he’d been expecting going to and fro through the halls. They were dressed casually, thin pants and shirts, more exercise clothes than anything he associated with the Jedi. Which he supposed made sense. He couldn’t imagine Rey being a stickler for formalities. 

He joined the flow outside his door, letting it carry him through the hallways and to the very destination he was hoping for: the mess. Caf was definitely needed if he was going to survive this day.

No one bothered him as he found a cup and filled it to the brim with strong, black caf, that first sip sending a little shiver down his spine. Once that was out of the way, he let himself look around.

There were about fifty people milling around the large room, maybe a little more, an obvious comfort among them as they went about their morning. From what he could tell, there was no way to tell just based on looking who was Jedi and who was not. But it was definitely a community, and a tight-knit one at that if he was basing it on the looks he garnered as he took a seat to enjoy the rest of his caf. The stranger. An interloper in their midst.

His mind wandered to the list of questions he’d been tasked with answering, one of which being how many Jedi resided at the temple. When he’d looked them over the first time, it had seemed innocuous enough, a quick headcount like they’d been doing at most outposts throughout the galaxy. Just one of the ways they were trying not to repeat their tumultuous history a third time. 

But after seeing the intel Rose had found, he wasn’t so sure. The whole exercise had taken on a new sinister edge. What were they really after here?

A happy beep from around his knees took him out of those dark thoughts. 

“Hey, traitor,” he said affectionately, reaching down to give Bee a fond pat on his dome. “How was your night?”

So maybe he was still a little jealous. Sue him.

Bee beeped on, Poe’s envy going ignored. 

“Really?” he asked as Bee recounted the night, which had apparently culminated in everyone decamping to Rey’s room. 

As if to prove it, Bee brought up a holo, little Poe climbing into bed with Rey, whatever the two were talking about too soft to be heard over the chatter of breakfast. 

He found himself wanting to climb into the projection, bury his son in hugs. There was something else lingering as he watched Rey’s kind face, the way she ran her fingers through their son’s hair, an old feeling that had been dormant these five years. One he wasn’t willing to give a name to just yet.

That seemed to snap him out of it.

“Bee! What have I told you about recording people without their knowledge?” 

The holo cut off with an apologetic beep from BB-8, leaving Poe a little more bereft than he had any right to be. It was possible he hadn’t thought that through. 

By the time he finished his caf, the hall had nearly cleared out, everyone moving on to however they spent their days here. And still, no one had come to find him, to tell him what to do or where to go. 

Apparently on his own, he decided to trail Bee into the courtyard, following the sounds of the day going on around them. 

There were people everywhere, just going about their business, some walking out to the fields in the distance, tools in hand, others rushing by with books or plates or bags full of laundry. He noticed folks cleaning up and a couple of obvious handy men and women. Honestly, he was shocked by the banality of it all. If it wasn’t for a group meditating under a large tree, it would have looked like any other small settlement he’d encountered. 

He’d expected… well, he had no clue what he’d expected, but it hadn’t been this. He focused on that group under the tree, eyes closed in the weak sunlight filtering through a hazy, cloud covered sky, seeking out a familiar face. 

But there was no sign of Finn, either in the mess that morning or here in the courtyard. In fact, he hadn’t heard so much as a peep about him since landing. Based on intelligence, he was frequently off planet, but Poe couldn’t hide his disappointment at not finding his old friend.

He swore he felt Rey’s presence a second before she spoke, that strange tingle creeping along the back of his neck. 

“There you are.” Her tone was light, almost conversational. Like they weren’t navigating the most complicated situation of his life. “Were you able to grab some breakfast?”

He turned, finding her far too chipper this early in the morning. She looked good standing next to him, forgoing yesterday’s robes for the more casual attire he’d seen around so far, her fitted pants and tunic putting that strong body on display. 

Clearing his throat, he didn’t let himself go any further down that particular path. “Yeah, I got a cup of caf. Though I wouldn’t say no to a second.”

“Black, no sugar,” she recited from memory. 

“The only way to drink it.” He smiled at her, an attempt to dispel some of the awkwardness of their stilted conversation. 

She returned his smile. “I think I can help with that.” Turning back toward the building, she motioned him to follow. “Come on, we should talk, anyway.”

Poe’s heart froze in his chest.  _ We should talk. _ That wasn’t a phrase you generally heard when something good was happening. Did she have second thoughts? Had she changed her mind about him teaching little Poe? 

As if she could read his mind, or at least guess at the most pressing question on it, she said, “He’s in class right now. So we’ve got some time.”

Poe exhaled. That didn’t sound like a woman about to keep him from his kid.

“Jedi school?” he asked, taking a few rushed steps to make up the lost ground between them. He imagined a group of 4 and 5 years olds whacking each other with sticks.

Rey just laughed. “No, school-school. We have someone who teaches them reading and writing and math. Galactic history. The usual. There are enough non-force sensitive kids, that I wanted to make sure they got an education, too. Not to mention that even Jedi need to know how to read and write.” They walked back into the building, Rey leading them down one of the identical halls. “Jedi school’s after lunch.”

They found themselves in the same mess hall he’d been in earlier, now empty of everything except the giant urns of caf and hot water for tea. He watched in surprise as she bypassed the tea for caf, adding a healthy pour of cream and enough sugar to make his teeth ache in solidarity. After pouring his own cup, he followed her over to an empty table. 

As they sat across from each other in semi-comfortable silence, not doing any of the talking they’d come here for, he noticed the deep purple marks under her eyes, twins to the ones that were surely under his own. Perhaps she wasn’t as awake as he’d thought she was.

Now that they were face to face, all the questions he’d painstakingly curated last night went right out of his head. He put his hand in his pocket, feeling the scrap of flimsi there. At least he had the forethought to write them down sometime after two this morning. 

“So…” she said, keeping her eyes half trained on the mug in front of her. “Did you sleep well?”

He let a small smile touch his lips. “Sure, it was great. All twenty minutes of it.”

Rey snorted into her caf. “Yeah, that’s about what I got, too.” Then, finally meeting his eyes. “This isn’t going to be easy, is it?”

Oh how he wanted to reach across the table, place his hand on hers like he had last night. Just a moment of connection, a moment of comfort between two old friends. But the memory of how quickly she jumped from him kept his hands firmly on his mug as he said, “Nothing worth doing ever is.” 

“Why don’t I find that more comforting?” She sighed, visibly steeling herself for whatever was about to come out of her mouth. Which was, “Poe, what are you doing here?”

It was the first question she’d asked him, right after he’d shown up. The big one. Only this time, it looked like there was no miniature version of himself coming out of the woodwork to save him from answering. 

They said a holo was worth a thousand words, so he slid his datapad over to save himself the breath.

Rey blinked, the furrow in her brow deepening with each passing second as she scrolled through the information. Even across the table, he could feel the tension coming off her in waves, her face falling further and further until her head snapped up to meet his eyes.

“What is this?” she demanded, not bothering to keep the slight tremor from her voice. 

He remembered that feeling all too well, the anger and helplessness mingling into something that kept him up half the night. “It’s what Rose sent me when I confronted her last night. Apparently, the real reason she sent me here to check up on you.”

“Rose sent you?” There was no mistaking the note of betrayal there.

He nodded. “Originally, she just told me that people were asking questions, and she wanted someone she could trust to look into it and make it go away.” There was a moment where he let that sink in before pointing to the datapad. “Then she showed me this.”

Her eyes shined, the fear there plain as day. “This is a lot more than questions.” 

“And a lot more than whispers,” he added. At that, her face crumpled, Poe going against his better judgement to reach across the table. The skin of her hand felt impossibly soft under his palm. Surprisingly, Rey did not jerk away at his touch. “Hey, we’ll figure it out. That’s why I’m here.”

She nodded mutely, not quite able to speak yet.

He wasn’t sure if it was for her benefit or his when he added, “And it doesn’t seem like they know his name yet.”

“Yeah. That’s good.” She nodded, seeming to come back into herself a little more. “It means we still have time.”

“And I know my word probably doesn’t mean much to you anymore, but I promise that I will do everything in my power to fix this. To make sure you and that boy stay safe, no matter what happens.” As if to emphasize, he gave her hand a squeeze, slightly less gentle than he meant to. 

It was amazing. He’d barely met the kid, and hardly even knew Rey anymore, but every word out of his mouth was true. There was nothing he wouldn’t do to make sure that they were safe.

Rey took a deep, if shaky, breath. “All these years. I thought that if I could stay here, keep my head down, that I could protect him. It’s what I’ve always done.” 

For a breath, he could see the girl from Jakku - windswept, sunbleached, sandscraped, but not hardened, never hardened - the hope on her face tentative as she looked toward the stars, trusting that someone would be back for her. But when he blinked, she was back to the woman she’d become, the woman he’d always known. The one who had answered the call and left that past behind. 

And she was still talking. “But all I managed to do was hide him from his father and delay the inevitable.” Her head bowed slightly.

“Hey. It’s not inevitable. We can stop this.”

“How? They already know too much.” She looked down at the datapad. “Don’t let these question marks fool you. Just because they can’t confirm it, doesn’t mean they don’t know.”

She had a point. But Poe wasn’t here for the panic. He chose to focus on the only practical question. How. 

“Well, we’re going to stay calm and do what I was sent here to do. I’ll take the month, answer the questions, and then when time’s up, I’ll go back to Coruscant to give my report and tell them what I saw here. A Jedi temple operating within the confines of the Republic, nothing more, nothing less. No reason to look any further.”

Rey’s eyes found his, her look sharp, penetrating. “But that would mean…”

“That I couldn’t come back,” he finished for her, his heart sinking with every word. It was the logical conclusion he’d been trying not to think about from the moment he saw that intel. Because it was the only conclusion, the reason why Rose’s face took on that look of pity last night. He could know his son, but only for a month. If he wanted to keep Poe safe, if he wanted that lie he would tell the council to stick, he’d have to turn his back on Sorgan and never return.

But he wasn’t the only one struggling with the concept. “No. No, there has to be another way.”

“Can you think of one?” he asked, already knowing the answer. 

“But Poe will be devastated.”

If he were a hoping man, he’d wonder if maybe Poe wasn’t the only one who would be devastated when he had to disappear out of their lives in a month. Too bad he wasn’t.

“Well, he doesn’t know I’m his father, does he?” Another question he already knew the answer to. 

She shook her head, an apologetic little smile playing across her lips. “No. We don’t exactly have a lot of fathers around here. It’s never come up.”

“Then we stick with the current story. I’m a friend of yours from the Resistance days visiting.” He swallowed down the lump in his throat. Gods, how much he hated that. “And then, at the end of the month, I’ll just be like anyone else when I leave.”

By the look on her face, she hated it just as much as he did. But after a moment, she nodded in agreement. 

“This is all such a mess I’ve made,” she said, tears spilling over for the first time. “I’m so, so sorry, Poe.”

“Hey, I’m not. If this is what I can do to contribute to his life, besides, you know, the obvious bit I already did...” Rey’s little huffed laugh at that felt like a victory. “Then I’ll happily do it.” With her hand still in his, he gave it another squeeze. “And who knows. A month is a long time. A lot can change. Maybe we’ll figure something else out.”

Again, he wasn’t optimistic, but if that little white lie would put some of the hope back in Rey’s eyes, then it was worth it.

“Mama! Mama! I’m done with school!” came Poe’s little voice in the quiet of the cafeteria. A second later he was bounding into Rey’s arms, Poe’s hand left hanging on the table.

He was starting to recognize an essential truth of parenthood: kids had impeccable timing.

In a move so natural it looked like second nature (and it probably was), she brought him onto her lap, his little body wiggling even in her arms. Though he only had eyes for his mother, Poe took the opportunity to drink him in, the ticking clock on their relationship making it that much more bittersweet.

The more he looked, the more he found himself among the boy’s features. The sun-kissed tan of his skin. The shape of his jaw. Even the slight tilt of his eyes as he looked up at Rey. But nothing reminded him of himself more than the nonstop chatter little Poe kept from the second he entered the room, barely taking a breath as he told Rey (and indirectly, Poe) all about his day so far.

“And he wouldn’t give it back, but Rubi was mad, so she used the Force to grab it and Mr. Pynter got really, really mad and made her stay after class,” he finally finished.

“And why do you think he did that?” she asked, the question obviously leading. 

But little Poe took it very seriously. “Because that’s not how the Force works.”

“That’s right. And we don’t use it like that.”

It hit Poe rather suddenly that it was a little more complicated raising a Force sensitive than your run-of-the-mill kid. But for his part, little Poe nodded sagely at his mother’s words, like he’d never be caught doing something so egregious.

Rey smiled, looking down at him. “Okay, Button, are you ready to go learn binary with Mr. Poe?”

There was a sharp twist in his chest at being addressed that way, the way he’d now always be remembered by his own son, but Poe quickly shoved it down. His days here were numbered. There wasn’t any time for hurt feelings or dwelling on the small stuff.

“But Mom, I just got out of class! Can’t we do it later?” he whined, the look on his little face so long-suffering Poe had to stifle a laugh.

“You have Jedi training after lunch. It’s now or never, kiddo.” Poe wasn’t sure how he felt about Rey giving him that choice. If memory served, four-year olds weren’t all that reliable decision makers. “Don’t you want to learn how to talk to BB-8?”

“Yeah.”

“Ok, then why don’t you go outside and do a couple laps around the courtyard to get the wiggles out and I’ll send Mr. Poe once we’re done talking.”

“Ok!” And just like that, he was off, practically sprinting for the door at the far end of the hall.

Poe realized with a jolt that he hadn’t said a word the entire time the boy had been here. He’d just sat by completely mute, watching in barely restrained awe.

“Walk indoors, please!” Rey called after, the look she eventually turned on turned on Poe himself lingering on impossibly fond. Without needing a mirror, he knew his own face matched as he watched the boy disappear out the door. “You’ll thank me. He’d never sit still otherwise.”

The direct address seemed to unstick him. “I recognize it. My dad used to make me run the length of the fields after school or I’d jump right out of my skin.”

That brought a soft smile to Rey’s face. “You guys are so much alike. I mean, I always knew it, but having you here…” she trailed off, but Poe knew what she meant. It was one thing to know, but a completely different one to  _ see.  _ The similarities seemed endless.

The silence that stretched between them was anything but comfortable, the knowledge of his impending and finite departure, not to mention the threat that ensured it, covering everything with a thin layer of grief. Fear had settled on Rey’s face, her failing smile doing little to dispel it. 

He wanted to say something to her, to promise that everything would be ok, but words had once again failed him. That seemed to be going around a lot these days. And anyway, there had been more than enough lies and half truths between them. He refused to add to the tally now.

The best he could do and still keep himself honest was, “We’ve got some time. We’ll figure it out. Together.”

She nodded, and he watched as she took a deep breath, expelling it slowly. And just like that, her face was clear, wiped away, a clean slate. Vaguely he wondered if this Jedi stuff was teachable. That was a neat trick.

“You should get out there,” she said as if nothing had happened, her voice light and easy, “before he ends up in worse trouble.” A smile played across her lips. 

Though he was experiencing a bit of emotional whiplash as he got to his feet (there was no nifty Jedi calming trick for him), her words managed to sink in. And slightly panic him. “Wait, you aren’t coming with me?”

It was one thing to spend time with his son, it was another thing completely to spend time with his son  _ alone _ . Without Rey there, what would he say? Would little Poe even talk to him? How in the galaxy was he qualified for this? Weren’t kids breakable?

“You don’t need a chaperone to see your own child.” 

“Are you sure about that?”

Rey’s laugh provided some small balm on his frayed nerves. “Yes. Now go. And don’t blow anything up.”

Though he was still slightly terrified - what if Poe hated him? - he recovered himself enough to slap on his most roguish smile, the one that had always enraged his superiors and the First Order alike. “You know I can’t make any promises.”

“Go.” With a ringing laugh, she shooed him out the door.

There was a lingering smile on his face as he made his way toward the courtyard, looking for his wayward droid as he went. There would be no binary lessons without the native speaker. Though it was no surprise at all to find Bee chasing Poe, or maybe Poe chasing Bee, when he finally made it to the weak sunlight of the courtyard, the two of them already thick as thieves.

Something lodged itself in his throat at the sight of them playing, that long buried dream coming to life right before his eyes. But he didn’t have time for mawkish daydreams, not when little Poe spotted him almost as soon as he’d stepped foot on the grass.

“Mr. Poe!” he shouted, running over with BB-8 in tow. Gods, these two were gonna be trouble. “What’s he saying?”

BB-8, helpful as ever, repeated himself. Poe shot him a look. He wasn’t even sure where his droid had learned that kind of language. 

“He says ‘let’s find a nice spot to sit,’” Poe lied through his teeth. Thankfully, Bee’s flat retort was still untranslatable for little Poe. They’d be having a long talk about what was appropriate later on. 

Little Poe led them over to the giant tree and dropped down, Poe’s knees creaking ominously as he attempted to do the same. He watched as the little boy pressed his back against the trunk and closed his eyes, something Poe had seen Rey do countless times to ground herself. Something that had to do with the Force of living things. For a moment, all he could see was Rey in the little boy’s face, her gestures and expressions coming alive. 

Those caramel eyes popped open without warning, catching him in the act. Not that little Poe seemed to notice. “What now?”

Poe took a deep breath. Excellent question. The answer to which he’d be making up as they went along.

“Well, I guess we start from the top.” 

He smiled, his earlier fears vanishing as he looked into his son’s expectant eyes. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What are you thinking so far? Are you ready for the journey these two are going to take as Poe gets to know his son and he and Rey get reacquainted with each other? I wonder what could possibly happen there...
> 
> See you next week!


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey deals with the revelations of the datapad. Later, when everyone is asleep, she gives the gift of knowledge.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story is really cooking now. I've figured out the shape of it, so now all that's left is to get the words on paper (er, screen). It will continue to be soft, sad, and angsty (with a happy ending, naturally), my preferred way to get through the grey winter months, so I hope you're along for the ride.

Rey watched as Poe made his way out to their son, her earlier laughter dying on her lips. Gods, she’d forgotten how charming he was when he wanted to be. Her memories hadn’t done him justice, bleaching all the color and nuance from his personality. In person, it sparkled. He sparkled. 

That admission felt far more dangerous than it should have.

But after the revelations of Poe’s datapad, “dangerous” was now a sliding scale for her. She looked down to the offending technology. Poe had left it with her in all its revelatory glory.

They knew. About her, about little Poe. About everything. Because of course she didn’t believe Poe’s half-hearted attempt to calm her. The matter of them knowing his name was of no importance. They knew he existed, and they knew he was hers. It felt like every one of her nightmares coming true. At once.

And then there was the Poe of it all. Big Poe, not little. And no, it was not lost on her that she’d already started classifying them as such. Nor that from experience she knew Big Poe lived up to that name. 

Anyway, Big Poe. His plan - while prudent - left her a little more hollow and aching than she’d been expecting. One month. That’s all he got to get to know his son. And Little Poe couldn’t even know who he was. To him, Poe would always be just a kind stranger with a cute droid, the man who taught him binary. 

That didn’t sit well with her. That didn’t sit well at all.

She knew that was partly because of her own guilt. It would be one story if - after this slightly delayed start - they had an entire lifetime together. Though it still wasn’t great, she could live with it. What she couldn’t live with is the knowledge that because of her secrecy, Poe would only know their son for a month.

Of course, he bore it perfectly, with humor and grace, that easy way he had with just about everything extending even to this mess. She looked back down to the datapad.

Rey was not as good with her own emotions. Even just a cursory glance earlier had told her grand plan hadn’t worked. And that made her want to hit something. Hard. But it was hours before she could work her feelings out in the ring, so now she dug deeper into the details, trying to figure out just how much they knew. 

There were names, dates, places. Several Jedi lineages in various levels of detail. A list of comings and goings from Sorgan, mainly supplies and Finn. 

_ Finn. _

Oh gods, he was all over this, inadvertently dragged into her ongoing drama. They even had him tethered to her as master and apprentice. Rey snorted. Well, they certainly didn’t know as much as they thought they knew. She and Finn were equals, plain and simple. If anything, she’d merely tutored him in the Force. Finn had done the rest.

Her eyes drifted across those genealogies, picking out names here and there from ancient texts and history. But there were others, names where the recognition went deeper. The voices, the ones that had come to her on Exegol, the words that had put her back on her feet to face her grandfather.

The words that had sent her to her death.

“Master Skywalker?”

Rey nearly jumped out of her skin at Jyssa’s soft voice behind her, so lost in her thoughts yet again. That was becoming a pattern. And a problem.

But she recovered quickly, schooling her face and willing her breaths to remain steady. In and out. “How many times do I have to tell you? You’re a full Jedi, now. It’s just Rey.” She smiled up at her former student, inviting her to sit. 

Jyssa tried to hide her gratified little smile, but Rey caught it. “I know. It’s just so strange to call you anything but ‘master.’”

Though she was only seventeen, Jyssa looked younger, maybe fifteen if you were being generous. But she’d been with Rey from the start. Back when it was just her and Finn and the handful of people they’d brought from Coruscant to rebuild this place, not knowing whether anyone else would even show up.

And then came Jyssa. She’d been barely twelve years old when she’d shown up on their doorstep, dropped off by a rather fearsome pirate Rey had never found the guts to ask her about. It hadn’t mattered. She wanted to learn and so she was taught. That’s how they did things here.

Even with only ten years separating them, Rey had always felt maternal towards the girl, never more than when she’d passed the trials a few months ago. According to the texts and the old ways, she was still too young, but Rey didn’t put much stock into the old ways. She had a four-year-old to prove it.

Rey smiled at her former charge. “What can I do for you?”

For a moment the girl looked nervous. “Actually, I came over to see how you were,” she said, not quite meeting Rey’s eyes. “I sensed some… turmoil.”

Rey bit back a snort. That was one way to put it. 

“You noticed that, huh?” 

She could only imagine the mess of emotions she was churning into the Force. One of the hazards of living with a group of Jedi, she supposed. Everyone knew your business. Sometimes before you did.

“It was kind of hard to miss.” She paused, as if weighing her next words. “Is it something to do with the outsider?”

Rey flinched at the term. They were so content on Sorgan, that Rey sometimes forgot how closed off from the rest of the galaxy it made them. An unintended consequence of her own reticence to leave.

“Yes. Poe’s an old friend, and our relationship is… complicated.” And that was before he’d brought her news of some shadow organization within the Republic that was inexplicably out to get her. But she held her tongue. No need to panic Jyssa prematurely.

“Did he– Is he…” the girl trailed off, an apologetic look in her eyes.

Rey gave her a small smile, placing her hand on Jyssa’s to let her know they were still ok. “He’s Poe’s father.”

Jyssa nodded, her creamy blonde braid bouncing against her back. “I guessed. From the name.”

“Yeah, that tends to be a dead giveaway.”

They laughed together, all the tension immediately bleeding from the room. She hadn’t realized quite how much she’d needed that until she felt the weight lift. At least momentarily.

“Is there anything I can do?”

Normally, Rey wouldn’t take her up on it, preferring to deal with things exactly as she always had: alone. But alone had gotten her into this mess; it certainly wouldn’t get her out. So she made a decision.

“Can you get a message to Finn?”

With that out of the way, and the thought of spending any more time with the datapad reprehensible, she got another idea. It was easy enough to find the files. Load them onto a small holoprojector. Which is how she found herself standing in the shade of the courtyard, trying not to be noticed as she watched Poe and Poe work.

He was good with kids, something that really shouldn’t have been a surprise to her. He was good with almost everyone, why would his own son be any different?

But it was different. He was patient with the boy. Understanding. Able to keep him focused and head off any whining or tantrums. Not a small skillset, especially when it came to little Poe.

They were sitting under the giant tree that dominated one side of the courtyard, both their backs against the wide trunk. BB-8 sat in front of them, beeping occasionally as Poe taught, using his hands like he always did when he spoke. She hadn’t noticed it in his smaller doppelganger yet, but she suspected it was only a matter of time now. Especially with the way Little Poe was looking up at Big in awe. 

There were high fives and cheers when little Poe got something right, gentle corrections when he got something wrong. The elder Poe’s face had come alive as he explained some finer point, Poe the younger watching with rapt attention. 

“But why would I need to learn that?” he asked, looking up at Poe with a squinty expression.

“When you’re up there,” answered Poe, pointing vaguely to the sky, “it’s just you and your astromech. Gotta know what your copilot’s trying to tell you.”

But little Poe was not easily deterred. “Isn’t that what the screen readout is for?” Rey tried not to laugh. He’d had the interior schematics of an X-wing memorized since age two. There was no fooling him.

“Ah, but if that goes out?” The look on little Poe’s face said he most definitely hadn’t thought of that. “And let me tell you, when you get hit, that’s the first thing to go.”

Little Poe’s face lit up with wonder. “You got hit?”

Before Big Poe could answer, Rey stepped forward. “All the time.” Both her Poes looked up as one. “For someone who called himself the best pilot in the Resistance, he sure crashed a lot.”

Poe caught her eye, a smirk she remembered all too well playing across his lips. “I believed we called them ‘rough landings’ back in the day.”

“I believe you’re right.”

“Mama! Mama!” Little Poe was on his feet, running over to her. “I can speak binary now!”

“After one lesson? I’m impressed.” She looked to Poe for confirmation, his face telling a different story. He wobbled his hand back and forth in the universal gesture for so-so. “Ok, well why don’t you go wash up before lunch and meet me in the mess?”

“Ok!” He took off behind her, fast as his little legs would carry him. It was how he went everywhere: at a run.

BB-8 gave a little whistle. 

“He said see you later,” declared little Poe with some certainty before he disappeared into the building. 

And he was right. Rey looked at Poe in alarm. 

Poe raised his brows. “I’d say 50-50 that was an educated guess.” With a grunt, he propelled himself up off the ground, pausing to stretch out his back once he was on his feet. “I am getting too old for that.”

Rey begged to differ. From where she was standing, there was nothing too old about him. In fact, he’d somehow managed to get better with age, that dusting of grey and the soft lines on his face making him even more attractive than she’d remembered. She blinked. That was a dangerous thought to be having about someone who’d only be around for another month or so. Or at all.

“You’re good with him,” she said to distract herself from that current line of thinking. “I don’t know why you were so nervous.”

Rather than answer, he rubbed the back of his neck for a second. “Well, it’s a lot of pressure. What if he hated me?”

“Impossible. You two are practically the same person.”

“Really? All I see is you.” He cleared his throat. “In him.”

Rey gave him a long look. 

“Well, besides the obvious.” A small smile played across his lips. “I mean, he got your nose.”

“And thank the Maker for that.”

“Hey!” He swatted at her, but there was no heat to it, his own smile not faltering.

As a soft and comfortable silence settled around their shoulders, Rey was struck by how little had changed between them. They’d always enjoyed a little back and forth, at times more heated than others, and not even five years and a kid could dampen that. 

And even more surprising, she realized she’d missed this. That razor edge of bickering that wasn’t wholly antagonistic. Her relationship with Finn was of a very different breed, built as it was on a deep foundation of friendship and mutual experience. Sure, they argued on occasion. But there wasn’t an underlying heat to it. Not like with Poe. 

It was that heat she felt snaking through her belly as Poe’s eyes crinkled in the sunlight, a few more lines than she remembered. Some things really never changed.

Rey blinked. No. That road was closed. And anyway, he was only here for a month. Going down that way would only lead to more heartbreak when he left, this time for good. It would be hard enough as it was without any lingering romantic feelings attached. 

Which reminded her of the device still clutched in her hand. “Here.” She thrust it out to Poe, his face contracting in a moment of confusion as he took it. “It’s holos. Of Poe. I thought you might like to look at them.”

Looking at her with an unreadable expression on his face, he clicked it on, bringing forth a perfect static rendering of her holding a tiny bundle, the look on her face exhausted but so pleased. 

“Baby’s first picture,” she said, her voice impossibly soft. Much like Poe’s face at the moment. “He was barely five minutes old in this.”

Next to her, Poe blinked rapidly, a telltale shine to those warm, dark eyes. “Thank you.” It came out as a croak.

Not wanting to intrude on his moment, Rey started toward the mess as he clicked through, scenes of little Poe’s life flashing before his eyes. 

When she got to the door, she looked back over her shoulder, finding Poe all alone and looking a little adrift. It tugged at something in her chest, and the next words were out of her mouth before she’d thought better of them.

“Do you wanna come eat lunch with us? Before Poe has to go to training?”

Poe tore his gaze away from a two year old version of his son, smiling as he held a frog gingerly in his cupped hands. “Are you sure?”

Good question. Though it would probably be easier for everyone involved if they kept a respectable distance between them - between her and Poe, between the two Poes - she found she didn’t care. She’d deal with this pesky emotion the same way she did every pesky emotion: by doing something physical.

Jyssa had already agreed to take the kids for training so Rey could work with the adults. It felt like a sparring kind of day. She almost felt bad for whoever had to face her. 

At that, she smiled. “Yeah, I’m sure.”

This was becoming a bad habit. 

Rey was once again staring up at the crack in her ceiling, sleep the furthest thing from her mind. Was it her imagination, or had the crack gotten bigger? Most likely her imagination. But still, she should probably get on the roof at some point and check. Was it too late to get up there now? She looked at the chronometer on the bedside table. 2 AM. That was a yes.

Of course, the one night that she would welcome a tiny, warm body to lull her to sleep, Poe was nowhere to be found. Little Poe, not Big, though if she was being 100% honest with herself, either would be welcome at this point. But alas, she was alone.

She’d thought that the workout she’d gotten in the sparring ring that afternoon would have been enough to propel her into that exhausted brand of dreamless sleep she was so fond of, but no such luck. It was like as soon as her head hit the pillow, she was wide awake.

Maybe she should just check on Poe, make sure he was sleeping ok. Little, not Big.

So she found herself propelled out of bed and creeping down the hall of their little suite of rooms, the path well worn in her memory. She could do this in her sleep, which she practically had many a time, answering a call in the dark to soothe a fear or calm after a nightmare. 

But when she peeked into Poe’s room, he was dead to the world, curls splayed every which way on his pillow. BB-8 and D-O sat in low power mode just to the left of the bed, Poe’s little hand resting on Bee’s dome as he slept. 

Rey crept backwards out of the room. No matter how awake or lonely she was, she wasn’t cruel enough to wake him from such a deep, peaceful sleep.

Ok, then. Plan B it was.

She stopped back in her own room for a thin cloak - it would be cooler outside, summer fast approaching autumn - before heading out to the courtyard. 

On nights like this, she liked to sit in the silent courtyard, her back against the giant tree as she looked up at the stars. They were different from the ones she’d grown up with on Jakku, brighter and closer, and Rey found that she could get lost in their beauty for hours. It was a good reminder of how small she really was in the scheme of the galaxy. How infinitesimal her problems really were.

But as she rounded the corner, it seemed she wasn’t the only one with that idea.

“Great minds think alike,” she said, startling Poe out of his reverie. “Can’t sleep?”

Once he’d recovered himself a little, he smiled up at her, scooting over to give her some room. “Good guess. Pull up a seat.” He patted the grass next to him.

Rey bit back her retort, settling down next to him. This was her tree in her courtyard at her temple after all, she certainly didn’t need his permission. But now was not the time to show how bad she was at sharing. It wasn’t her fault. They didn’t exactly teach it on Jakku.

They were shoulder to shoulder when she finally got settled, the subtle heat of him bleeding into her. He’d always been that way - warm. Both in personality and temperature. Her own personal sun. Though, she supposed, not hers anymore.

“I’d ask the obvious, but…” he trailed off, a soft smile on his face.

She found herself smiling. “Yeah, can’t sleep either.” 

Looking down at his hands, she noticed for the first time that he’d been going through the old holos of Poe again. Something pulled in her chest. Again.

“Would you…” he trailed off again, clearing his throat. “Would you walk me through these?”

She blinked up at him, at the hope and want in his eyes. It struck her that she should have thought of that. That he would have no context or knowledge of what he was seeing in the pictures. 

“Of course.” She waited for him to cue up the first picture. It was the same one from that morning, Rey looking sweaty and exhausted, Little Poe awake and alert in her arms. “That’s the day Poe was born, like I said. Thirty hours of labor and five pushes later, there he was. I was pretty delirious.”

Poe considered that. “Only five pushes?”

Rey snorted. “Spoken like someone who’s never had to push.”

“And thank the maker for that.” He smiled at her, something in her chest loosening. “Was he small? He looks small.”

“Tiny. Just barely five pounds. Nothing so small had any right to hurt that much.” Rey found herself lost in the memories. The hours and hours of contractions, sleeping when she could (which wasn’t often), that final push to the end. A tiny screaming being gently tipped into her waiting arms. “He was so perfect and looked so much like you with that full head of dark hair, though it wasn’t quite curly yet, that I named him Poe right then and there.”

Next to her, Poe nodded, seemingly lost in the memory with her. “I was wondering why you chose that.”

“Well, I don’t exactly have many family names, if you get my drift. Couldn’t call him Sheev, now could I?”

Poe snorted, bringing the next picture up. 

Rey was there, her cheeks full with lingering pregnancy weight, holding the chubbiest, cutest baby ever.

“Oh, I forgot how fat he was!” Poe gave her a look. “No, fat babies are good. It meant he was healthy, that he had enough food.” She’d seen plenty of the other kind on Jakku. It had been a point of pride at how chunky her baby was. “He had these little rolls on his arms and legs. You just wanted to eat him up.”

There was something wistful about the look in his eyes, like he too wished he could eat him up. He clicked forward. 

The next one was a video, a tiny holographic Poe taking uneven, shaky steps, five in quick succession, before making his way into Rey’s waiting arms. 

For a second, Rey thought of telling the lie she usually peddled when showing this, but decided against it. If anyone deserved the truth, it was Poe. “I missed his first steps,” she admitted with a wry smile. “I was sleeping and Finn was watching him and he didn’t have anything to record it. So he woke me and we captured this for posterity. Poe’s second steps.” She gave him a look out of the corner of her eye. “I normally lie and tell people these are his first.”

Poe let out a wheezing laugh next to her.

“In my defense, he hadn’t slept through the night the entire nine months he’d been alive. I had to sleep when I could.”

Poe dropped an arm around her shoulders in that easy way he had, a kind of sideways hug. “Aw, don’t worry, Sunshine. No one’s judging you.”

Rey’s breath caught at the long forgotten nickname falling so easily from his lips. He’d called her that, once upon a time. Only when they were alone. Next to her, Poe seemed oblivious both to her reaction and to the fact that he’d used it at all, going on like nothing had happened.

He didn’t move the arm, either.

Instead, he brought up another still. “What about here?”

So it went for another half hour or so, Rey carefully dictating the highlights of their son’s life as Poe ate up every word. It was painful for him, she could see it in the set of his jaw, the strain in his eyes, but that never stopped him, did it? He was determined to learn as much as he could in the time he’d been given. 

Over the course of the conversation, they had sort of melted into each other, Rey’s head eventually resting on Poe’s shoulder, his arm wrapped firmly around her. It was warm and familiar and far too cozy by half, and in short order, her eyes had started to drift close.

Finally, when she could barely keep her eyes open anymore, he lowered the device, Rey swearing that she felt a soft kiss on the top of her head before she drifted off to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hmm, seems like a little something's brewing. See you next Sunday!


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just as Poe falls into a routine at the temple, things change yet again when a new arrival threatens to shake things up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things are about to get interesting.

Though he’d only been there a week, Poe quickly fell into the rhythms and routines of the temple. 

The mornings were for work - school for the kids, and various tasks around the grounds for the adults - while the afternoons were spent in work or training, depending on where you fell on the Jedi spectrum. Since Poe fell somewhere around the force sensitivity of a rock, work it was. Everyone here carried their weight, and Poe was no exception. 

But his favorite part of the day, hands down, no contest, was that slice of heaven directly after school but before lunch. The glorious hour a day he spent teaching his son binary under the courtyard tree.

That tree. It seemed to be the spot where all his best memories were made. 

After their night spent under the stars, he’d awoken at first light, gently shaking Rey next to him. She woke with a jerk and start, her hazel eyes wide in the burgeoning sunlight.

He smiled. Had he ever woken up with her before? Maybe during the war. Either way, she looked good in the early morning sun, unfairly so, her dark hair taking on hints of red and gold while the splash of freckles across the bridge of her nose looked good enough to eat.

Or maybe, kiss. 

“Shit!” she said by way of greeting, up and on her feet before Poe could even feel guilty about those stray amorous thoughts. Without her weight against his side, he attempted to stretch out the stiffness in his neck. There was no doubt he was going to pay dearly for sleeping in this position. He was also distracting himself from the way his heart sank at her reaction. 

“Well, good morning to you, too.” There was a groan as he attempted to heft himself to his feet. 

Rey stuck out a hand.

“Thanks,” he muttered, trying not to be embarrassed when he accepted her help. Not everyone could be a 25-year-old Jedi. Some of them had spent way too many years crammed into the cockpit of an X-wing. And it showed. 

But thankfully, there wasn’t a soul around to see his mortification or their combined walk of shame, the entire temple still silent in the wee hours. But that knowledge didn’t stop Rey from looking around, her eyes wild. A little like a cornered animal. 

“I should…” she trailed off, thumbing toward the building. “Lots to do today.”

She was off before he could get a word in, practically running toward the safety of the building and her rooms within. Running from Poe.

“Hey, Rey,” he called, and Rey stopped to look over her shoulder at him. She was nervous, a little jumpy, her face closed off. “Thanks. For this.” He held up the little holoprojector. “And the stories.”

Her face relaxed into something impossibly fond, and Poe found himself swallowing against the wave of desire that popped up. That look wasn’t for him, he reminded himself, forcefully. It was for their son. 

“Of course. Thanks for helping me sleep.” Her cheeks pinked, rosy in the morning sun.

Or maybe not.

But she was gone before he had a chance to think about it any further, leaving him and his holoprojector alone in the courtyard. He’d thought about heading back to his empty little room - BB-8 had decamped once again to Little Poe’s - but the sounds of morning at the temple had already started to reach his ears. No point trying to sleep now.

So he’d grabbed a cup of caf and sat down, generally feeling useless until he overheard the conversation at the table next to him. It seemed there was a broken irrigation line out in the fields where they grew fresh vegetables for the kitchen that no one knew how to fix, something that he knew quite a bit about thanks to his formative years on the farm. All it took was the offer of expertise and he had his very own job.

Which is where he found himself that day nearly a week later. 

Despite there only being a few fields, it was back-breaking work, the kind that left you sweaty and aching in the early morning sun thanks to a lack of droids. Rey kept mumbling about this planet’s autumn fast approaching, but he had seen no sign of the promised cooler temperatures as he baked in the sun day after day, his shirt frequently left draped over the low fence. But it was good work. Honest work. Work that kept him busy and his mind occupied. 

Not to mention that it felt good to contribute, to be a part of the temple in some small way. Though the rumor mill was voracious on Sorgan, people no longer looked at him like some outsider (and yes, he’d heard the term thrown around derisively a time or two). He was one of them now.

Yes, he had fallen into the routine and rhythms of the temple, none more important than what happened when Rey got in the ring to teach.

It didn’t happen every day. No, there was too much power in the moment for that. Nothing would get done at the temple at all. But when she did, it was like a ripple went through the grounds, a subtle electricity, everyone knowing instantly what was going on. 

And they gathered. Leaving hoes and shovels and spanners in the fields. Dropping utensils in the kitchen. Laying down whatever book or text they were pouring over in the library. All to make their way to the flat clearing just outside the main ring of buildings. 

It had been built up, a low wall to keep out nonparticipants, hard packed earth in the middle for the sparrers. Absently, he wondered what they did when the weather well and truly turned. Surely they had some indoor facility for this as well.

But something told him it wouldn’t be half as majestic watching her fight under the fluorescents as it was to see her under the sun in all her glory.

Mind you, he’d seen her fight. Plenty of times. He’d watched her run the course Leia set up for her on Ajan Kloss, seen her take out six spice runners with only her staff, watched her (from a distance) go toe to toe against Kylo Ren with a lightsaber. But none of that compared with the dance she did in the ring, hair glossy and shining in the sun. 

It was like a dance, every move seemingly choreographed. He knew it wasn’t, that she was well and truly fighting, but the movements were so smooth and seamless it looked like they’d been planned. Her arms tensed as she brought her saber down for a blow, back muscles rippling as she swung. 

Her body was like poetry.

Poe shook his head.  _ Her body was like poetry _ . Where the fuck did that come from? He didn’t say shit like that. Only, apparently he did.

He leaned harder against the stone fence, the group collectively holding their breath as Rey blocked a well-placed hit. Barely. It was the closest he’d ever seen someone come.

The sabers, hers sunny yellow and his a startlingly deep blue, clashed and sputtered, meeting and parting so rapidly it looked like they were magnets oppositely charged. 

But as Rey appeared to be growing stronger, her opponent was fading, his hits becoming sloppy, his blocks barely there, and that’s when it hit Poe. The earlier near miss had been a ploy. She’d lulled him into a false sense of security and let him tire himself out before she came for him, more powerful than before.

Once, twice, three times she lashed out, teeth bared and face vicious, each time his blocks losing strength. Her opponent stumbled, hitting the ground hard, though still he managed to protect himself as Rey swung again. But his arms shook as he tried to hold her, the blade of her saber inching ever closer to his face.

It was quick work from there, the man, a nice guy Poe worked with out in the fields named Cam, yielding by deactivating his saber and dropping it at Rey’s feet, defeated.

A cheer went up, Rey’s sweaty face showing some small twitch of satisfaction even as she extended a hand to help him to his feet. He was smiling, too, talking her ear off as soon as he’d regained his footing, miming one of the moves she’d made as Rey nodded. Without missing a beat, she adjusted his stance, showing with her own body how to pull off the maneuver. 

Poe was too far to hear what they were saying, but he could guess the gist of it. Rey gently teaching, her student in awe. It was the same kind of interaction he’d seen over and over since arriving on Sorgan, and rightfully so. Rey was awe inspiring, and he was glad that people here recognized it.

Maker knew he did.

But now was not the time to unwrap that, not when the kids were getting trotted out for a little show.

This was new, Rey obviously capitalizing on the audience her fight had drawn. No one would dare shuffle back off to work when the younglings were on stage.

They came out in a single file, a little row of ducklings on parade. There were seven in all, ranging from about Little Poe’s age to what he guessed was ten years old. When Little Poe caught sight of him in the crowd of onlookers, he waved enthusiastically, a massive smile on his face. It was something so simple, but it nearly took his breath away.

Poe managed to regain his faculties in enough time to wave back, his son beaming even harder as they took their places. 

He had, over the course of the last week, peeked in on a class or two, wanting to see what Jedi school was all about. They had been adorable, floating small objects, practicing stances with wooden lightsabers, and Little Poe the best and brightest among them. 

Yes, he knew that every parent thought their child was exceptional. It was practically hard-coded into your DNA. But in Poe’s case, it wasn’t some offhand boast, but really true. The kid was a natural, lightyears ahead of any of the other younglings, his natural affinity for the Force eclipsing even the talent of those with far more practice than him. 

He was a dad, let him brag a little. 

The kids stood in two lines, Poe’s heart just about bursting with pride when his son’s face got serious as they lifted their little wooden sabers. Rey stood off to the side, letting the young woman who’d met him at his ship, Jyssa was her name, lead them through a series of moves they had obviously practiced. 

Cut to the left, cut to the right, step back and duck, and then a vicious overhead chop. 

They went through the sequence a few times as a group, Jyssa walking through and giving soft commands (and dodging a rogue stick or two), before calling for them to line up single file again. 

“And now, as a special treat, each of you will face Master Skywalker in single combat.” A soft rustle of anticipation went through the kids, this obviously not an everyday occurrence. 

Across the hard-packed ground, Rey smiled, cheeks still a little pink from her earlier exertion. He caught her eye, earning a quick wink as she pushed a sweaty tendril of hair off her face, one of the strands that had pulled loose from her braid. 

She grabbed one of the wooden sticks, twirling it a bit like he’d seen her do with her saber when she thought people weren’t looking. That saber was like an extension of her arm and the stick seemed no different, Rey able to swing and spin it just the same. Once she had a feeling for her weapon, she stepped forward to assume the stance.

One by one the kids met her with their combination, starting with the tallest and going to the smallest. Naturally, that left little Poe for last. But Poe didn’t mind, not when he got to watch Rey do her thing, effortlessly blocking the strikes while still coaching them through.

Left shoulder, right shoulder, then she’d pause and wait for whoever she was facing to step back and duck, making sure her own “saber” sailed effortlessly over their head. Then it was back up to block the chop to the head (which more than one time nearly got her just from poor aim alone). Each child received a rousing round of applause from the audience and a handshake or pat on the back from Rey before joining Jyssa and the rest of the group off to the side.

Finally, it was Little Poe’s turn (and how funny that he’d naturally set up that distinction), the boy’s face serious as he faced his mother with his stick.

He slashed out for Rey’s left shoulder, receiving his block. Then with a spin that certainly hadn’t been in the curriculum, he went for the right. Rey didn’t need to pause because he was already back and down, her own wooden saber barely making it up in time when he exploded out of his crouch for the final hit.

There was no contest. Hells, it didn’t even look like he was playing the same game as the other kids.

The crowd exploded in cheers, with Poe’s the loudest of all. He marvelled at the little boy, at the fact that he was somehow half Poe. Though the little man himself was looking a bit shy at all the attention, his cheeks pink from either that or the exertion.

Rey’s smile was incandescent on the field, though she seemed determined to keep her cool by giving Poe the same measured pat she’d bestowed on the rest of the kids before he scampered off to join the others.

Jyssa came back, asking for another round of applause for the younglings before the groups started to break up, back to work or training for all.

Poe hovered around the low wall, just hoping to get a few extra minutes with his family. A wish that was quickly granted as Little Poe took off toward him.

“Poe! Poe!” They’d dropped the “Mr.” shortly after their first binary lesson, and thank the gods for that. “Did you see?”

Poe’s cheeks ached from the grinning. “You bet I did! That was some fancy footwork out there.” He gave the boy a rousing high five.

Rey sidled over, her own look of pride unmistakable. “So, what did you think of our little showcase?” 

He knew she was talking only about the kids, but he certainly wasn’t when he answered, “Amazing.”

Her eyes caught on his, the hazel looking more green in the sunshine. 

It was strange, like a moment of electricity shared between them, both of them feeling it as Rey’s lips quirked up. 

A shout came from behind the building and just like that it was broken, replaced with that low buzz that Poe associated with one of Rey’s matches. But that didn’t track, she was obviously right here, so what was the source?

He got his answer soon enough.

Because people had started to gather again, this time at the edge of the temple, waving and gesturing toward the little patch where they kept the ships. Odd, he didn’t remember seeing anything land. But sure enough, a man appeared from around the corner a second later, one Poe would have known anywhere.

Even from a distance, Finn looked good, his hair longer and done up in thick ropes that he’d tied back, while his shoulders and arms were big enough to stretch the jacket he wore to the breaking point. It was obvious he didn’t skip the gym. He walked taller, too, or maybe it was with just purpose, his strides even and deliberate, like he knew exactly what he was about. Though he was stopped every few feet by a well wisher or group of padawans, it was quite obvious where he was headed.

Poe smiled in spite of himself. It had been five years since he’d clapped eyes on his friend, and even with that time stretching between them he felt a raw excitement bubbling up. Finn was here.

And he wasn’t the only one.

“Uncle Finn! Uncle Finn!” Little Poe took off at a sprint, Finn’s smile going wide as he effortlessly swept the boy into his arms. 

Next to him, Rey’s own smile was strained, a look in her eyes a little like that cornered animal he’d seen when they woke up together in the courtyard. He turned back to Finn and immediately saw why.

Now that he’d put Poe the younger down, Finn had set his sights on them, and if looks could kill Poe the elder would be dead, buried, and dust by now.

But Poe was undeterred. He smiled, extending his hand as Finn drew level. “Hey, buddy. Long time no see.”

Finn simply crossed his arms and stared.

This… was not what Poe had been expecting when the dream team was reunited. They’d been damn near inseparable at the end of the war, and sure things had gotten more complicated since then, but surely they were still all on the same team?

“Not long enough.” Finn scoffed. 

Poe put both hands up. “Whoa, man. I don’t know where this is coming from…”

“Oh don’t play dumb with me, you know exactly…”

Rey stepped forward at that, then between them, first addressing Little Poe. “Hey Button, don’t you have more training to get to?”

Though he was only four, he seemed to sense that something was brewing here between the nice stranger and Uncle Finn, but even he wasn’t about to ignore a direct order from Rey. “Yeah. Uncle Finn, will you tell me all about your adventures later?”

Finn smiled down at him, ruffling those dark curls. “You bet. Now, run along before Jyssa misses you.”

Without so much as a backward glance at Poe, he was gone. And here, he’d thought they’d made some progress.

“You two. My office. Now.” Rey grabbed them both by the shoulders and started to drag them toward the temple, eyes scanning to make sure no one was watching them. 

Something started to creep up on him, an old feeling that he’d thought he vanquished years ago. The doubt, the feeling of being left out, a third wheel tolerated but never quite accepted by the members of a club he had no access to. He looked from one to the other, the question coming slowly.

Were they together?

A lot could happen in five years. That would explain the less than warm welcome from Finn, Rey’s strange behavior, even Little Poe calling him “uncle.” Poe’s heart sank. Not that he’d hoped or anything. At least, that’s what he told himself.

It was those dark thoughts that followed their frog march through the halls, Rey not letting go even when it was quite certain that neither were resisting. Finally, Rey opened the door to a small suite, what appeared to be a living room in a personal apartment. Her apartment. It was cozy here, a long couch along one wall with a couple of chairs on the other side of a low table. Pictures were scattered about the space, old fashioned ones without the hologram. Pictures of her, pictures of Little Poe. How had he been here a whole week and never seen where they lived?

Though Finn seemed right at home in the space, dropping on to a low couch without provocation. 

Seeing Poe still standing, Rey pointed to the seat next to Finn. “Sit.”

Poe obeyed.

Next to him, he could feel the waves of resentment coming off Finn as if he were projecting it, the glare never leaving his face. 

Rey busied herself with something in a high cabinet, coming back with a decanter of glowing blue liquid and three low glasses. Spotchka, a local specialty. She was practically baring her teeth at them as she slammed the decanter onto the table, the liquid sloshing precariously. 

“Drink up,” she commanded, eyes burning in the lower light. “Then we’re going to discuss this like civilized human beings.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (They are not together, in case you're wondering or about to get mad at me.)
> 
> Join us next week as we have a difficult conversation and start to make a plan of action, all while our friends reacquaint themselves with each other.
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The conversation between Poe, Rey, and Finn goes about as well as expected. Later, Rey makes a surprise offer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh hey, it’s been a while. Five weeks to be exact, which I love to be. I hope the fact that you’re reading this means you are still at least a little interested in this story. I was more than a little surprised to find that I still was, despite being a little bit terrified to step back into it. So here we are.
> 
> That being said, I’m going to try my hardest to get this back to a nice, steady once a week update, barring any insanity. I have a ton of the later chapters written, so I know this is going to be a fun, angsty ride.
> 
> To the lovely everith who sent me words of encouragement on this story the exact moment I needed them: thank you. I am so sorry that the troll picked up those words (and that I then against my better judgement also interacted). I’m not sure if your comment got swept up when the troll got purged or if you deleted it to stop the bullying, but either way thank you. Those words were the single bright spot in a really shitty day and convinced me to keep writing this and other stories when I was pretty sure I was finished with it all. So, again, thank you.
> 
> Without further ado, I hope you enjoy the next chapter!

“Drink up. Then we’re going to discuss this like civilized human beings.”

She wasn’t one to drink in the middle of the day, but as Rey stood surveying two of the most important men in her life (the third was still in class), both pigheaded as can be, she found she needed the fortification. At least they had the good sense to do as she said, Finn picking up the decanter and putting a couple fingers of spotchka in each glass before passing them around.

“To old friends?” offered Poe, earning another glare from Finn. 

Men.

“How about: to acting like adults.” She turned her gaze on Finn. At least he had the good sense to look a bit sheepish.

Without much cheer, they clinked glasses and downed the liquor, Rey savoring the slight burn as it slid toward her stomach. She set down the glass, taking a deep breath before turning toward the men.

“Now, are we ready to have a conversation?” she asked, using the tone she reserved for when Little Poe was throwing a tantrum. And here, she’d thought she made it through the toddler years.

Poe took the first stab. “Listen, I don’t know what his problem is with me all of a sudden, but I did nothing wrong.”

“Nothing wrong?” Finn laughed, the sound harsh and bitter to her ears. “You did nothing wrong? You abandoned her when she was pregnant.”

“Excuse me, I didn’t even know she was pregnant!”

“Real convenient that you just so happened to miss that call.”

“Exactly. One call. Maybe if she would have tried a little harder to get ahold of me…”

While that barb wasn’t exactly aimed at her, it still hit true, like an elbow to the gut of a not so innocent bystander.

“Don’t you dare blame this on her!”

“ENOUGH!” she shouted, loud enough to be heard over their bickering. Both men fell silent. Good gods, she hadn’t heard them like that since they were stuck on Kef Bir. 

And true, she’d known that Finn harbored a bit of anger on her behalf. Soon to be double so, now that Poe’s arrival seemed to bring with it the unhappy tidings of the Republic’s witch hunt. But apparently she’d vastly underestimated Finn’s capacity to hold a grudge. Though in her defense, she hadn’t exactly planned for him to land right in the middle of a family moment, no warning, no chance for her to explain. 

“Gods, I can’t even think with you two going at each other.” She massaged her temples, the telltale start of a headache rising. It gave her an excuse to collect herself after Poe’s harsh - but true - words. “And can you please stop talking about me like I’m not in the room? That’s rude.”

“Sorry,” they muttered as one, looking properly chastened for once. 

“Thank you. Now Finn, Poe is here as my guest with my blessing.” Finn mumbled something unintelligible. She’d take that as acknowledgement. “And Poe, Finn is my partner here at the temple.” More mumbling. “And anyway, we have bigger fish to fry than who told who what five years ago, don’t you both agree?”

She took their silence as assent. 

“Good. Now, what are we going to do about this?”

Finn leaned back, still side-eying Poe. “Is somebody going to tell me what “this” is? All I got was a very cryptic message about returning home as soon as possible, and then when I get here I find Poe very much at home and…” he stumbled for a second, realizing the conundrum, “the… other...Poe knows who he is–”

“Little Poe,” both she and Poe said at the same time. 

Finn blinked at them.

“He’s big Poe,” she clarified further, earning a look of wide-eyed disbelief from Finn as she nodded toward Poe. “And our son is Little Poe. It’s how we distinguish.” 

If it was at all possible, Finn’s eyes got wider, the use of the word “our” certainly not going unnoticed. “Yeah, somebody better start talking.”

So, they started at the beginning, at least the beginning as they knew it with Rose’s ask, then cycling through Poe’s unannounced arrival, their awkward reunion, and his surprise of a lifetime, finally ending with the datapad.

Rey handed it over without comment, watching as Finn’s eyes grew bigger and bigger in the weak light while he read. She and Poe exchanged a nervous look as Finn’s silence stretched into minutes, eyes going from wide to narrow, his expression stormy.

When he finally set the device down, it was with a violent sort of calm, his face unreadable even when she could feel the emotion coming off him in waves. It dawned on her that he might turn that anger on Poe as their personal harbinger of doom. With a detached sort of curiosity, she wondered if it was about to come to blows.

She’d stop it, of course. She was just curious.

Sure enough, Finn turned to Poe and she certainly wasn’t the only one holding their breath while they waited for him to speak.

“Thank you.” He glanced down at the datapad before returning to meet Poe’s eyes. “For bringing this to us. We never would have known otherwise.”

And then he stuck out a hand, Poe grasping it for a second before Finn pulled him into that manly sort of hug, the one that involved a lot of back slapping. The one she’d seen them give time and time again. As if no time had passed.

Relief flooded through her. Though it wasn’t actually possible, it felt like she’d been holding her breath since the moment Finn showed up and she finally released it.

They parted quickly, a little bit of awkwardness still lingering. So maybe not all was forgiven. A tentative sort of peace. Just enough that they could work together on this problem.

“So, what’s the plan?” asked Finn once they’d parted.

Rey and Poe exchanged a look.

“I will make my report as vague and bland as possible, subtly throwing them off the scent. They have no reason not to believe my word. And at the end of the month, I’ll head back to Coruscant and never look back.”

All of that easy cheer from a moment ago dissipated in the space of a breath, almost as if it had been sucked from the room. There was no denying the accusation in Finn’s voice when he stated, “You’re leaving again.”

Poe had the grace to look offended at that implication. “Well, not again. If you remember correctly, I wasn’t the one who left the first time.”

There it was again. Rey’s cheeks heated. As if she had any doubt left that he was still pissed about that. 

“But you’re leaving them this time.” Finn’s expression turned thunderous. “At the end of a month, you’re going to disappear out of their lives, this time for good.”

Seeing where this was going, Rey decided to head it off at the pass. “Finn, he’s doing this for us. For Poe and me.”

“You think I want to do this?” asked Poe, moving seamlessly from offense to anger. “You think I want to spend time with my son and not be allowed to tell him I’m his father? You think it’s not killing me inside every second as I watch the clock tick down on the only relationship I’ll ever have with my kid?” 

His voice broke on that last word and took Rey’s heart along with it. 

He hadn’t said a word to her about this. Never raised his voice or showed anything but acceptance at their current situation. And he’d thanked her. He’d actually thanked her for giving him this tiny slice of the family that was rightfully his, when all along he’d been harboring these feelings. 

But Poe wasn’t done. Not yet.

“You think I want to walk away from what may be my only shot at a family?”

Rey filed that nugget away for later.

But Finn wasn’t quite done with him either. “I don’t know what you want, Poe. You haven’t been here for the last five years. I barely know you at all.”

“Exactly, you know nothing,” spat Poe. 

This was not what she imagined for their grand reunion, the bickering, the old feuds. They had been friends once upon a time, all of them. Where had that camaraderie gone? The friendship? The feeling of family? Surely, five years couldn’t have stolen all of it, even with the secrets between them.

“I may not, but what I do know is that boy adores you. I talked to him for all of thirty seconds, and he couldn’t shut up about the pilot who teaches him binary and tells him stories about flying X-wings. So he may not know you’re his father, but he’s definitely going to be hurt when you leave.”

She watched that blow land squarely on Poe’s face, the knowledge hitting her at the exact same time. Of course she’d seen it, there was no way to miss the relationship developing between the two of them. But she’d told herself that they’d be fine, that it would be a mere blip on the radar once Poe was gone. Leave it to Finn to see through even the lies she told herself.

“Enough!” she yelled again, losing all semblance of patience at that little epiphany. She turned to Finn. “Do you have a better plan? Because we have a ticking clock here. He needs to be in front of CSI in three weeks with a full report of what’s happening here. So if you have a better idea, let’s hear it. I’m all ears.”

She meant for it to come off sharp, an admonishment because Finn was being pigheaded and Poe was no better. But instead, it took on a desperate kind of hope. She wanted Finn to come up with a solution, to see something she and Poe had missed. To tell her that they didn’t have to separate again, that their son could know both of his parents. But one look at his face told her that wasn’t about to happen.

“Well?” She looked at him expectantly, already knowing the answer.

Finn sighed, not quite willing to meet her eyes when he mumbled, “I don’t know.”

“I’m sorry, I can’t hear you.”

“I said, I don’t know,” he snapped, knowing full well that she’d heard the first time. “But there has to be another way. Why aren’t you guys trying to find another way?”

Rey sighed, suddenly exhausted as she leaned back in her chair. They had been trying. At least, she had been, staring up at that crack in her ceiling instead of sleeping night after night. It was a type of meditation she supposed, a way for her brain to shut off and do the work she couldn’t while it was active. And still, nothing had come to her.

Though occasionally her newfound insomnia had its boons. Just last night, once she couldn’t look at the damn crack for one more minute without going insane, she’d made the trip out to her favorite tree in hopes of finding clarity. Instead, she’d found Poe again under the tree in the courtyard.

Funny how they kept meeting out there.

“We’ve tried,” answered Poe, bringing Rey out of her daydreams of starry skies and warm, brown eyes. “There’s nothing else we can do that won’t raise suspicions further. Even this is a long shot.”

Rey’s head shot up. 

She’d never heard him express anything but confidence about the plan, but now his face was a mask of doubt and worry. Which sent Rey’s stomach flipping uncomfortably.

“You don’t think it’s going to work?” she asked, hating how weak and afraid her voice sounded. Judging by the look on Finn’s face, her expression wasn’t much better.

Poe scrubbed a hand over his face with a sigh. “I don’t know if it’s going to work. But it’s the best shot we’ve got right now.”

That didn’t exactly inspire confidence.

She felt a hand on her own, looking up to find Finn reaching over the table. “We’ll figure this out, Rey.” He gave her hand a squeeze. “With the three of us on the case, what could go wrong?”

Rey raised a brow. She couldn’t tell whether he was being willfully ignorant of their track record or trying to make her laugh. The quirk of his lips told her it was the latter. 

And looking into his eyes, she felt calm for the first time in days. Maybe in the entire week since Poe had shown up on her doorstep. Finn was right. They could do this. And they had always been better together, despite a few bumps in the road.

Poe cleared his throat, tearing their attention away from each other. Rey blinked. She’d forgotten he was there for a second. 

As it was, he was on his feet, looking from one to the other with an unreadable expression on his face. 

“We’re bringing in the late summer vegetables,” he said, his voice not giving away anything. “Anyway, I should probably get back out there.” He was already inching toward the door. 

“We’ll figure it out, man.” Finn sounded so damn sure, Rey wanted to believe him. She really did.

Poe nodded, one foot out the door. “Yeah, yeah, of course.” And with one final look at their locked hands, he was gone, Rey’s eyes following him as far as she could down the hall. 

Oh how she longed to go after him, talk to him, make things right. Some of the things he’d let slip… well they’d left a mark. And now she had more questions than answers. 

Rey waited until she was sure he wasn’t coming back to whack Finn on the chest. 

“Hey! What was that for?” Finn scowled at her, absently rubbing the peck where she’d made contact.

“What was that for? What was all  _ that  _ for?” She waved her arm to encompass the entire tense conversation with Poe. “I don’t need you to defend me from the father of my child.”

Finn mumbled something.

“I’m sorry, I can’t hear you.”

He made a face that told her he didn’t appreciate being spoken to like Little Poe. “I said, somebody needs to.”

They stood facing each other in silence for a long, tense moment before Rey cracked a smile and threw her arms around him, Finn hugging her back just as fiercely. “Gods, I’ve missed you.” 

And it was true. Even when he was annoying and overprotective and making her life a lot harder than it needed to be, she wanted nothing more than to have him by her side.

“Gods… you stink.”

Or not.

Rey pushed him away with a laugh. “I just got out of the practice ring, what’s your excuse?”

“20 hours in a cockpit.” His grin could only be described as shit-eating. “You’ve made quite the mess of things, haven’t you?”

If they still hadn’t been having a moment, she would have smacked him. Again. “Like you’ve done much better. They’ve been following you halfway around the galaxy.”

“I know.” Finn’s face turned serious. “What do you think they’re playing at?”

“Fucked if I know,” she said, allowing herself the rare curse. Such was life with kids. “It’s been five years. What could they want with me now?”

But it was a rhetorical question. Palpatine had spent decades biding his time, building his army in the shadows, so it was no surprise that the Republic would want to immediately squash any threat. And if the Battle of Exegol had proven one thing, it was that there was only one real threat in the galaxy: Palpatine’s bloodline. Which meant she wasn’t the only one they were after.

She’d feared this from the second she’d found out who her parents were. Well, technically from the second she’d found out who her grandfather was. She would have been stupid not to. So at the first sign of rumors, she’d taken off, thinking that if she kept to herself and her temple that they would leave her in relative peace. And thanks to a few pesky rules the Jedi were known for, Palpatine’s line would eventually die with her.

Then Poe came along.

She’d never been more scared in her life than when that test turned positive and she realized what they’d done. And she’d understood with the kind of bone-deep knowledge only enjoyed by the Jedi that it was only a matter of time before someone found out, came to eradicate the last of Palpatine’s line.

That feeling had been dogging her every moment of every day since.

Which is why she asked the next question on her mind. “Did Rose really never say anything?”

Finn gave her a long look. 

They had an arrangement. Finn kept her secrets - happily, might she add - but there was a part of his life that was his and his alone. Rose fell into that category.

He’d spend hours regaling her with stories from his travels, night markets and obscure delicacies and gorgeous rare flowers that stretched for miles on far flung planets she’d only ever dreamed of. But when it came to his dealings in the capital, and Rose specifically, he was tight lipped.

“Sorry,” she muttered, recognizing that she’d crossed a line.

Finn sighed. “Listen, I know it seems insane, but we don’t talk about you. At all. I don’t want to lie to her, and she knows better than to bring it up.” His lips quirked up. “Besides, we don’t do a whole lot of talking when we see each other.”

Rey’s face screwed up. “Ew. Gross.”

Finn only laughed at her revulsion. “Coming from the person who had a kid with my former best friend. Think about how I must feel.”

That reminded her. “You should go talk to him,” she said, overstepping as usual. But Finn was like a brother to her, and Poe was the father of her child. She hated to see them fight. “Really talk to him.”

He brushed her off. “We’re fine, Rey.”

“You were better than fine once. You were family. Five years is a long time, and I feel responsible–”

He interrupted her. “Rey, I made my choices. Not you, not anybody else, but me.”

“I know. But that doesn’t mean you can’t change your mind. Make it right.” Suddenly, she found the carpeting extra interesting beneath her boot. “We both get another opportunity here.”

Finn’s answering smile spelled trouble. “Apparently, only for a month.”

The words hit like a blaster bolt to the chest. It was one thing to know that in an abstract sense. It was something completely different to hear it coming out of Finn’s mouth as fact.

Something must have shown on her face, because Finn took pity on her. 

“I’ll find him later,” he said, his smile softening. “Make amends and all that.”

“Well, maybe make him sweat a little.” That earned her a laugh as they both made their way out of her apartment and into the hall. “But he’s doing this for us, for Poe and me,” she repeated. “So try and remember that.”

Finn made a noncommittal sound in the back of his throat. 

“Thanks, Finn.”

“Anytime. Now, go. Or everyone’s gonna be in bed by the time you pluck up your courage.”

How had he… she hadn’t even said where she was going, or that she’d planned on going anywhere in the first place. She almost wanted to shake her head. Jedi.

Instead, she stuck out her tongue at him, Finn’s laughter following her down the hall. 

“And Rey?” he called after her, Rey shocked to find his expression serious when she turned to face him. “Be careful, okay?”

Immediately, she went on the defense. “I don’t know what you mean.”

But Finn had a habit of getting to the core of her, and this was no exception. “It’s only a month. Just… be careful.”

At that, she took her leave, the strange warning following her all the way out of the temple and into the late afternoon sunshine.

Since Poe started working out here, she’d found more than one occasion to make her way to the fields at the far end of the property, something she couldn’t have said she’d done more than a handful of times the entire five years prior. But that was surely a coincidence, just like the fact that Poe happened to work out here shirtless more often than not.

Finn had no idea what he was talking about.

As she rounded the building and their little patch of farmland came into view, she found that today was no exception. At least on the shirt front.

Poe was leaning on the handle of a long shovel in the center of their little vegetable patch - amidst the Naboo lettuce, if she wasn’t mistaken - a smile on his face as he spoke to someone she recognized as the head of the farming crew. It had only been a week, but the sun had already deepened his naturally tanned skin to a lovely golden brown. 

And there was a lot of that skin on display. For once, she let herself look, taking in the long lines of his arms, still subtly muscled despite working what she’d realized was little more than a desk job, the powerful shoulders, the strangely delicate neck. And there, hanging from said neck, was a thin chain she remembered all too well, the ring dangling at the end nearly infamous in her mind.

His mother’s ring. 

Back then, he never took it off. So it should have been no surprise to see it hanging against the broad planes of his chest now. But then she realized with a jolt that the feeling going through her wasn’t surprise at all; it was relief. If he was still wearing it, that meant there had been no one worthy to give it to back home. And she was relieved. 

Rey decided that now was not the time to parse out that particular emotion.

Instead, she turned her attention back to Poe. He was in the middle of something, gesturing to his fellow workers, giving instructions, so she leaned against the rough wood of the split rail fence that surrounded the area and waited for him to notice her. Not that she minded the view.

Like she’d noted before, there was a lot of skin on display, glistening with sweat in the late summer sun. Here and there a scar slashed across - on his hand, his chest, the top of his bicep - the skin just a hair lighter than the rest of him. Though she would have said he had a tan when he arrived, it had darkened enough in the short time he’d been here to make her wonder how often he saw the sun back on Coruscant. 

She knew she was staring. She also knew she shouldn’t be. Finn was right, it was only for a month, technically three weeks now, and then Poe would be gone, this time for good. It did her no good at all to drool over things she couldn’t have. And yet, she found that she still couldn’t look away, even when Poe felt her eyes on him and turned to face her.

When Poe’s eyes connected with her own, she felt only a passing blip of embarrassment at getting caught. Easy enough to ignore. There was a smile on his face, not entirely easygoing after the conversation with Finn. But he still made his way over to her, Rey realizing a little too late that she had nothing to say to him.

Of course, Poe didn’t know that. 

“What brings you out here?” he asked, coming level with the fence. 

Good question. One she didn’t have an immediate answer to especially when all she could focus on was the way his forearms flexed just so as he gripped the fence. He had nice forearms, muscled but not too hairy, something she wasn’t sure she’d ever noticed. Strange.

This close, she could smell the sweat and loamy soil on him. Though she’d known that he was a farmer - or at least grew up with a farmer for a father - she’d always thought of him as most at home in the cockpit of an X-wing. And yet, he fit here, too, among the green and growing things, the dirt and sweat and exertion seeming to bother him not at all.

Realizing that he was still waiting for her answer, she racked her brain for a valid reason to be out here in the middle of the day.

“Dinner,” she managed to sputter out, Poe’s subtle look of confusion telling her he needed a little more than that single word. “You should come have dinner with us. Me and Poe and Finn. Tonight. A welcome home meal.” 

It wasn’t bad for a last minute thought. Though that hadn’t been the original plan, she was sure Finn would be fine with it. And if he wasn’t, then she’d make him okay with it. Plus, it would give the two men an opportunity to talk, now that cooler heads were hopefully prevailing. 

Poe looked skeptical. “Are you sure? I don’t want to intrude.”

“Of course, I’m sure. It’ll be good to get the gang back together. And I know Poe would love to see you.” 

At the mention of Little Poe, his smile went wide, a little more genuine. “Ok, then. I’ll be there.”

It would be fine, Rey told herself as she walked back to the main building, a ridiculous smile on her face. It was just a meal. What could possibly go wrong?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What could possibly go wrong?
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The big dinner does not go exactly as planned, which is probably a good thing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little bit of a building chapter this week, in preparation for next week's feelings fest. Hope you enjoy!

He should have said no.

It had been on the tip of tongue, just two letters to save him a whole hell of a lot of hassle. N. O. But if there was one thing he’d decided since realizing that he only had until the end of a month with his son, it’s that he would take every opportunity, every invitation to spend more time with him he was granted. And so, he said yes, against his better judgement.

Probably didn’t hurt that Rey was looking at him with those wide hazel eyes, almost green in the afternoon sun, a look of expectant hope on her face so tentative that he found he couldn’t disappoint her. 

But hours later, long after those beseeching eyes were no longer in front of him, he was having second thoughts. 

Not that he didn’t want to spend time with Rey and Little Poe. The exact opposite in fact. He would have walked through fire to spend even an extra hour in their combined company. It was the Finn of the matter that gave him pause.

How the hells was he going to make it through an entire evening of stony glares and snide remarks? 

Finn’s reaction to his presence here hurt him more than he cared to admit. Sure, they’d had their differences back in the day - more than one, if he remembered correctly - but no matter how bad things got, he always knew that they were on the same team. Now? He wasn’t so sure.

Gods, he’d forgotten how sharp Finn’s tongue could be, that innate ability he had to cut Poe to the core with a single sentence. It was a singular talent of his, one that Poe had been on the receiving end of more than once and that he wasn’t particularly happy to become reacquainted with.

What the hells had happened to them? 

The pieces were starting to fall together, the reasons for their estrangement becoming clearer with each conversation. Finn had made a choice, one to protect Rey and her secret. Though he had to admire the man for his loyalty, it still stung. It had always stung, the bond between them that Poe had never quite been able to crack. On his worst days, the resentment had spilled out almost in spite of himself, biting little comments that he was helpless not to make. The thought of spending an entire night basking in the glow of that connection sent a little shiver of dread down his spine.

But he’d do it, again and again, if it meant he got to spend a few more minutes with his son. And if he was being honest with himself, which he was decidedly not, Rey was included in that. For better or worse.

He hadn’t let himself think of that sneaking suspicion, the one that hit him when Finn first appeared, but now the question came fully formed in his head.

Were they together?

He wouldn’t blame her. In fact, he should have been relieved that she hadn’t been alone all these years, that Little Poe had a father figure, a male role model when he’d been absent. And when he was gone again. Boys needed that. And Finn was one of the good ones. He’d be there for her, comfort her, hell, he was even a Jedi so they had that in common. 

Yet, he found himself feeling something quite different from relief.

It wasn’t jealousy. That would be ridiculous. He and Rey had been together the one time, and that was five years ago. No one could be jealous after five years apart. Could they?

Apparently, he was about to find out.

Because despite his best efforts at dragging his feet, he was showered and shaved and looking rather presentable, if he did say so himself, also known as completely unable to put off leaving for Rey’s little apartment any longer. He supposed he could play on his datapad or send Rose an update (heavily coded, of course), but being late probably wouldn’t endear him to Finn any further. Not that he was looking for Finn’s approval. Besides, getting there a little early would mean a few more minutes of Poe time, which was always the goal. That settled it. 

So he gave his hair one final, cursory tousle in the little mirror, grabbed his key, and headed off in the direction of Rey’s rooms. 

The halls were bustling with activity at this time of day, people coming back from their various jobs, people heading out to dinner at the mess. Poe made his way through the crowds with an ease he rarely felt, waving occasionally at a friendly face or passing acquaintance, stopping more than once to chat with someone about the plans for winter vegetables or how to prep the soil for next year’s big plant. And that’s when it hit him. 

He belonged here. Well, maybe not belonged, but certainly fit in. After nearly two weeks, he was more comfortable here than he was among the grand halls of the Republic on Coruscant, ostensibly his home. Something for him to ponder later for sure.

But not now, not when he’d finally come face to face with Rey’s door. Nerves warred with his anticipation as he raised a hand to knock, the worry about what he’d be walking into eclipsed only by his anticipation of spending time with Poe and Rey.

His knuckles were a mere breath away from making contact when the door flew open of its own accord, revealing a very small version of himself (not to mention his wayward droid), smiling wide.

“There you are,” he said, as if he’d known Poe was on the other side of the door. Which he probably had, being Rey’s son and all. “Mama’s cooking and Uncle Finn is cursing.” BB-8 confirmed it with a snide beep.

Poe’s eyes widened in alarm. More than one fire had been started on base due to Rey’s attempts to feed herself or others. “Your mom’s cooking?” He didn’t bother to keep the fear out of his voice.

Little Poe nodded grimly. “Come on, before-” 

A crash followed closely by a curse rang out across the apartment, Poe exchanging a strangely familiar long-suffering look with the little boy. Like looking in a mirror. Without any further preamble, Little Poe grabbed his hand and tugged, leading him further into the apartment while Bee followed behind.

They found Finn and Rey in what passed for a kitchen here, a tiny galley style unit he was more used to seeing on ships than on land. Not that Rey needed much more than that, especially when she was more than capable of burning water no matter the size of the stove. Though by the smell of it, there was a lot more than water on fire this time.

“It’s burning!” shouted Finn, stating the rather obvious as thick steam - or smoke, it was hard to tell from the distance - billowed from the pan.

Rey was waving her hands in an attempt to disperse the cloud, still gorgeous despite the smudge of something unidentifiable on one cheek. “Thank you for that astute observation. Now, how do I make it stop?”

“Throw some water on it?”

“NO!” bellowed Poe, shocking everyone in the room, including himself. He dropped Little Poe’s hand to push his way into the kitchen. 

He took a deep breath, trying as he might not to inhale whatever noxious fumes were wafting about, then he said more calmly, “No. Water and cooking fires do not mix.” With a practiced air, he took over the minor crisis, turning off the flame, then searching the surrounding area until he found a lid big enough to fit the offending pan. One slightly daring maneuver later that involved getting his hands far too close to the flames, the lid was secure and the fire quickly burned itself out.

They released a collective sigh of relief as the last flame winked out. A sheepish grin played on Rey’s lips, mirrored almost exactly by Finn next to her. He couldn’t blame them, their upbringings not exactly leaving much room 

A small but energetic round of applause had all three turning as one.

“That. Was. Awesome!” Little Poe was grinning from ear to ear, the wide-eyed look of wonder on his face telling Poe that this was an experiment due to be repeated, gods help them all. “Can you do that again?”

“No!” answered all three of them, a wall of parental disapproval. 

Little Poe’s face clouded. “That’s not fair! You always get to set-”

Rey’s hand clapped over his mouth before he could finish that thought. 

“Ok, that’s enough. Go play with your ships while we figure out what to do about dinner,” she said with an air of authority that was completely at odds with the woman who had just nearly burned the temple down. 

But Little Poe did as he was told, something about the look on his face telling Poe that this wasn’t the first dinner she’d burned, nor would it be the last. 

Just then, an ear splitting screech rent the air, Poe freezing mid-smile. His mind shifted immediately to air strikes and incoming, a fear so ingrained after years of war he’d never quite shaken it. His breaths became shallow. It took a full three seconds of blind panic for Poe to realize what was actually happening.

The smoke detector. Better late than never, he supposed. 

“Fat lot of good you are now,” Rey grumbled, waving a small dish towel in the general direction of the sensor to clear the still lingering smoke. “Could have used you a few minutes ago.”

As the shot of adrenaline ebbed, Poe unstuck himself, grabbing a cleanish cutting board to help with the effort. His eyes connected with Finn’s to the left of Rey, recognizing the same haunted look he was surely sporting. A moment of understanding blossomed between them, the specter of a long dormant friendship rising to the fore.

And then the detector abruptly cut off and the moment passed, leaving the three of them to look at each other in the ringing silence. A stomach rumbled.

“What now?” asked Finn to nobody in particular.

The three of them looked over at the blackened hunk of… whatever Rey had been trying to cook. Tip yip? Bantha steak? Veg? The world would never know. 

When Poe turned back, both Rey and Finn were looking at him. He had always been the natural leader among them, a little older, a little more experienced, and the slightly expectant looks on their faces instantly took him back to the days when he’d been the adult of the group. Some things never changed.

“Ok, Finn you take care of… whatever that was supposed to be.” He gestured to the stove. “Rey, show me what you have on hand.” It was almost too easy to fall back into their old patterns, the paths well worn and familiar. Comfortable.

Only, now there was a fourth.

“What about me?” asked Little Poe, appearing out of thin air. 

Poe felt himself smiling. “You have the most important job,” he said, ruffling the boy’s curls. They were ridiculously soft. “Sous Chef.”

The boy’s brow rumpled. “What’s that?”

“My second in command.” Little Poe’s eyes lit up at that. “Come on, let’s see what you’ve got in these cupboards.”

Years in the military (and a short but memorable stint on the run) had made him a master of the scavenged meal, throwing together a little or this or a little that, basically whatever was on hand, to make something if not delicious, then at least edible. And not on fire. Not that he blamed them. Rey and Finn hadn’t exactly grown up in environments conducive to home cooked meals. He found himself suddenly grateful for the temple’s mess, otherwise the two of them (and Little Poe) might have starved.

So they went about their duties, Poe scraping together enough ingredients for a humble sort of meal involving pasta of a questionable age and a sauce using some of the fresh vegetables he’d been harvesting the last week. Rey brought a stool so Little Poe could assist with things that didn’t involve knives. Or flames. Poe had certainly not missed the gleam in the little boy’s eye during the fire.

While they worked, Finn and Rey watched, offering up a suggestion here or there that Poe studiously ignored. Not that he didn’t trust them. Just that the place still stunk of charred tip yip.

It hit him as he was instructing Little Poe on the best stirring technique, that this was how it all started with Rey, too, way back when, the surest way into a Jakkuan heart being through their stomach.

She’d been so damn thin, barely more than skin and bones (and a bit of hard earned muscle), when they’d finally been introduced that he was a little shocked to realize that this slip of a woman was in fact the great and powerful Rey that Finn wouldn’t shut up about. But her grip had been strong and her smile genuine, Poe inexplicably struck by a need to  _ feed  _ her. 

And feed her he did, though he had to be a little more subtle about it than all that. You couldn’t just give Rey food. At least not in any quantity. It had been A Thing on Jakku, some complex hierarchy that he had neither the time nor the patience to learn. She only ever ate exactly what was offered to her, in the exact proportions as everyone else despite her obvious need of extra calories. It had taken him ages to convince her to accept a little treat he’d picked up off world, and only after showing her that he’d brought enough for Finn, too. So, he started out small, bringing her a Jogan fruit from a quick trip to Lothal or a bit of veg that only grew Chandrila or a square of bittersweet chocolate from Trammis III. Soon enough, she’d been waiting for him when he landed in the Ajan Kloss jungle, a look of expectation on her face as he revealed what treat he’d brought home.

And he’d watched with no little bit of satisfaction as she closed her lips around a succulent berry or a brightly colored dessert, the little moan she didn’t bother to cover up always reminding him of what else that mouth might be capable of...

“Poe?” 

The little voice snapped him out of his rapidly gutter-bound thoughts, Poe blinking at the boy a second before he realized what was amiss.

“Oh, shit!” He stirred the sauce a second before it bubbled over and made a mess. Or worse, started a second fire. 

Next to him, Little Poe snorted. “That’s what Mama and Uncle Finn said when they started their fire, too.”

“Hey, watch it. I did not start a fire.”

Though he didn’t comment, his tiny doppelganger looked less than convinced, the expression making him look far too old for Poe’s liking. As soon as he was sure the sauce wasn’t about to explode, he ruffled the boy’s curls again, the gesture becoming a habit. A dangerous habit.

They continued to work in tandem, Poe noticing little bits and pieces about the boy that he hadn’t yet gleaned from their lessons. Like that he carried a touch of Rey’s accent, especially when he was concentrating, the rounded vowels putting a smile on Poe’s face. Or that he had the lightest dusting of freckles on his nose, only there if you were looking hard for them. Or that there was more green to his eyes than Poe realized.

And all the while, he could feel Finn’s gaze on them from just outside the kitchen, taking in every bit of interaction like some sort of a self appointed watch dog. It was more than a little unnerving, but Poe did his best to ignore it, preferring to focus on the meal (and memories) he was making with his son.

Before he knew it, the pasta was ready and the sauce declared edible by his sous chef, everyone helping in the whirl to get it to the table. Places were set, a fresh salad was made, and finally, the four of them found themselves seated. Poe’s stomach gave an audible rumble as he helped himself to a heaping pile of food. It was later than he expected.

To his great surprise, it wasn’t awkward in the least, Finn having thawed out considerably since that afternoon. The three of them laughed and talked and shared old stories, the kind of reunion Poe had been expecting when he touched down on Sorgan. But this was even better, what with Little Poe in the mix, eyes growing wider with each tale until Poe was sure they were going to pop right out of his head. Though never more than when they were talking about flying.

“Is it really true that you were the best pilot in the Resistance?” asked Little Poe, mouth so full Poe wasn’t even sure how he managed it. He was so precocious (and powerful) that Poe sometimes forgot he was only four.

But Rey never did. “Don’t talk with your mouth full,” came her gentle chide, the boy struggling to chew an impressive sized bite. “And yes, he was. The very best.”

There was something almost wistful in her eyes when she listed his feats of flying, the lightspeed skipping, the near misses, the First Order dogfights. And yet, she took none of the glory for herself, glossing over her own accomplishments in the cockpit to the point of omission. Looking at Finn, he noted the other man saw it, too.

“Your mom is correct, I  _ was _ the best pilot in the Resistance.” He let that hang there for a second while he took a sip of his drink. And then, “Until she came along.”

It took a few breathless seconds for that to sink in. Little Poe’s mouth hung open, his half chewed bite on display for all to see.

“You were a  _ pilot _ ?” 

The fact that he sounded so surprised spoke volumes. 

The Rey he’d known had never been shy about her abilities, at least not when it came to the cockpit. There, she had been just as sure of herself as he was, maybe more, never willing to pass up an opportunity to show off her skills. Though he had to admit, she might have been a little more subtle about it than him.

Something was afoot here, and for a second he wondered if he’d accidentally stepped into a minefield. Was she keeping it from him? Why?

But instead of cutting him off with a look or snapping something rude, her cheeks simply pinked, a look of modesty on her face he wasn’t sure he’d ever seen before. “I was.” And then, thinking better of it, “I am.”

But the nuance there was lost on Little Poe having just found out that his  _ mother _ of all people was one of his heroes. Same kid, same.

“Did you fly X-wings?”

From there, the conversation never strayed, Finn and Poe (and occasionally, reluctantly Rey) trading off with stories of Rey’s victories, continuing on even after their audience of one had started to nod off in his place.

Poe spent a little too much time watching Rey’s face, the way it lit up from within as she recalled some long-forgotten mission from their former life. She was pretty on even her bad days, but nothing compared to the way she looked when she spoke about flying.

Kind of like someone else he knew.

But this was not the time to worry about their shared interests, or why someone who loved to fly hadn’t so much as left the ground in five years, not when there were stories to be told.

“Do you remember that time on Minfar-” Poe started, Finn cutting him off almost immediately. 

“No! Remember I wasn’t on that one.”

It felt a little too good to be true to finally into the old patterns after their rather inauspicious beginning, talking and laughing and generally enjoying each other’s company. Poe never wanted it to end.

“Well, she refused, and I mean refused, to admit that she had crashed the Falcon. Despite all the evidence to the contrary.”

At that, Rey piped in. “Excuse me, that was a rough landing.”

He raised a brow, earning a blush in response. Something a little lower on him heated in response. He shook it off immediately. “Call it what you want. At least I can admit when I crash.”

A slight crash in the direction of their forgotten fourth turned all their heads, Little Poe blinking owlishly at them, the sauce on his forehead indicating he had just fallen asleep in his plate.

“Come on, you,” said Rey, an indulgent smile on her face as she held out a hand to him. “Off to bed.”

“But I’m not tired!” whined Little Poe, though his words were somewhat diminished by the massive yawn at the end.

Rey helped him from his seat. “Uh huh, and I’ve never crashed.”

Her eyes flashed as they caught Poe’s across the table, the small admission bringing a smile to his face. He knew it.

He and Finn said goodnight to Little Poe as Rey herded him back towards the bedrooms, Poe watching their progress with a reckless sort of abandon. BB-8 followed behind, no question who the droid belonged to these days. He sighed. It was probably time to prepare himself for the fact that Bee wouldn’t be making the trip back to Coruscant with him. Just another thing he’d loved and lost to Sorgan.

A throat clearing to his left broke him out of his reverie. Strange, he’d forgotten Finn was even here.

There was an unreadable expression on his face, Poe wondering if he was about to be read the riot act yet again, though for what this time gods only knew, when the other man said what had to be the most surprising and unexpected words in all of Galactic Basic.

“I’d like to apologize.”

Poe blinked for a second, thinking he’d heard him wrong. “You’d like to… apologize?”

Finn had the grace to look ashamed at his surprise. “Yes, apologize. I’ve seen how you look at him, Little Poe, how much it’s killing you not to tell him, and I’m sorry, man.” For once Finn looked out of sorts, not quite meeting his gaze. “I know it wasn’t your fault. And that you don’t want to do this.” He took a deep breath. “I’m just protective of her, you know? Him, too. Rey was… heartbroken when she came here.” 

Finn’s eyes took on a far off gaze, like he was remembering exactly how heartbroken she’d been. Poe felt a stab of guilt, even though that part hadn’t been his fault. Technically. His sin came later. 

But he’d sensed it, hadn’t he? Rey was different now, more cautious, a little hesitant. He’d told himself that it was on Little Poe’s behalf, that she was protecting their son from heartache, but it made a lot more sense in this context. She was protecting their son from the same kind of heartache she’d already suffered.

Without warning, Finn shook off whatever was going through his mind. “It took a long time for her to be okay again. And she built all of this from scratch. I just don’t want to see her hurt again.”

Poe swallowed down the lump in his throat. He was certain Rey wouldn’t have welcomed that confidence Finn just shared, but he was better for knowing it. “I don’t want to see her hurt either. If there was any other way…”

“I know. I get that, now.” But he still didn’t seem pleased about it. Well, join the club. Neither was Poe. “And I’ll make sure they’re ok. After you go.”

The little worry that had been niggling at the back of his mind since he saw Finn with Little Poe jumped back to the forefront, and the next words were out of his mouth before he could think better of it. 

“Are you guys together?”

For a second, he thought Finn was going to laugh at him, but he took one look at Poe’s face and reconsidered. “No. We’re not together. We’ve never been together. But I do step in on occasion when Poe needs a male role model.” He took a deep breath. “She’s been my best friend since day one; I’d do anything for her.”

Once upon a time, Poe might have balked at that - he and Finn had met before Rey and Finn, after all - but now, all he could feel was relief at the prospect that Rey was seemingly unattached. 

A feeling he decided not to look at all that closely in the moment.

“Thanks,” he said, unsure which part of that it was for. The general would have to do.

But Finn was watching him closely. “You two aren’t…”

“No. No.” Poe put up both hands in surrender. There was no way that Poe would admit to anything less than friendly feelings on his part. Not when Finn had just stopped looking at him like he was some rogue who had abandoned his family. “There’s nothing going on between us.”

But even as the words left his lips, he could taste the lie like something bitter on his tongue. It came as a surprise even to him.

If Finn picked up on the lie, he had the decency not to call Poe on it. “Good. It’s better for everyone that way.”

Poe wanted to be insulted by that, he really did, but Finn had a point. It would be better for everyone, Poe included, if he kept his hands and his heart to himself. After the rather lovely evening, it was a sobering thought.

Thankfully, Rey chose that moment to reappear, saving Poe from having to agree with him. “He’d like you to tuck him in.”

Rey was avoiding his gaze, a strange look on her face. Like she didn’t want to make him feel bad. Ah, of course he’d want Uncle Finn to tuck him in. Though of course it hurt, he started to make his excuses, wanting to get out of there with as little awkwardness as possible, when the rest of Rey’s statement stopped him in his tracks.

“Both of you.”

Something inside him cracked open and soared, Poe unable to keep the smile off his face when he repeated, “Both of us?”

Instead of answering, she simply nodded, Poe too excited to do anything more than note the glassy sheen to her eyes or the way her smile didn't quite reach them. He didn't wait for Rey to change her mind, or look back at whatever look passed between her and Finn, taking off toward the back bedroom without hesitation. There was no way he was about to let this opportunity pass him by.

Which is how Poe found himself tucking his son in for the very first time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter is a DOOZY and one I've had planned from the beginning, even before I was sure I was going to continue this one. Can you tell I'm a little excited? 
> 
> See you here next Sunday, same time, same place!


End file.
